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6 


Books  by  Anne  Warner 

A  WOMAN'S  WILL 1904 

SUSAN  CLEGG  AND  HER  FRIEND  MRS. 

LATHROP 1904 

THE  REJUVENATION  OF  AUNT  MARY   .  1905 

SUSAN   CLEGG    AND   HER    NEIGHBORS' 

AFFAIRS 1906 

SUSAN    CLEGG    AND    A    MAN    IN    THE 

HOUSE 1907 

AN  ORIGINAL  GENTLEMAN      ....  1908 

IN  A  MYSTERIOUS  WAY 1909 

YOUR  CHILD  AND  MINE 1909 

JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES   ....  1910 


JUST    BETWEEN 
THEMSELVES 

A  Book  About  Dichtenberg 

BY 

ANNE   WARNER 

Author  of  "  The  Rejuvenation  of  Aunt  Mary," 

"  Susan  Clegg  and  her  Friend  Mrs.  Lathrop," 

"  In  a  Mysterious  Way,"  etc. 


FRONTISPIECE    IN    COLOR    BY 
WILL    GREFE 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1910 


Copyright,  1910, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published,  April,  1910 


THE   UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    IT.  8.  A. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  MRS.  DUNN  MEETS  GRACE    ....  1 

II.  DlCHTENBERG   LOOMS   HlGH      ....  11 

III.  GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN 28 

IV.  BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS     ....  38 
V.  DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE   ...  51 

VI.  THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  AND  SOME  GO  OUT 

TO  WALK 65 

VII.  THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS 86 

VIII.  THE  NEXT  MORNING 104 

IX.  WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE 122 

X.  WHERE  No  ONE  WORRIES     .     .    .     .  137 

XL  LEFT  TOGETHER 151 

XII.  To  ARMS  AGAIN 161 

XIII.  AND  So  FORTH 167 

XIV.  THE  OVERTURNING  WORM 178 

XV.  MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT     ...  191 

XVI.  THE  FATAL  DAY 207 

XVII.  MRS.  ELLERSLIE  PACKS 225 

XVIII.  SAY  "Au  EEVOIR" 232 

XIX.  THE  PICNIC 239 

XX.  FINISHED!   ,  260 


2227878 


JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 


CHAPTER  I 

MRS.   DUNN  MEETS  GRACE 

THE  Berlin  train  came  slowly  yet  impressively  into 
the  Brunswick  station,  the  engineer's  head  out  of 
his  window  being  the  first  of  a  long  row  of  heads 
out  of  a  long  row  of  windows.  Everybody  was  either 
expecting  friends,  or  keeping  watch  for  a  porter,  or 
doing  both. 

Clang-clang-clang,  the  train  came  along,  and 
the  imposing  station-master  in  full  uniform  ad- 
vanced to  meet  it.  The  train,  being  bred  up  under 
strict  German  discipline,  recognized  the  station- 
master  and  stopped  with  slow  dignity.  The  station- 
master  saluted  the  first  guard,  and  the  first  guard 
saluted  the  station-master;  then  the  other  guards 
hurried  along,  unfastening  all  the  doors  that  had  not 
been  already  unfastened  from  within,  and  the  crowd 
began  to  climb  out  with  cries  of  Bitte,  Danke,  Adieu, 
meine  Damen,  Gepdcktrdger !  and  other  useful  bits  of 
travel  lingo.  As  they  poured  down  the  platform,  their 
anxious  friends  came  pouring  up  the  platform  to 

1 


2  JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

meet  them,  and  then,  with  much  kissing  above  and 
many  dachshunds  below,  the  affair  slowly  began  to 
clear  up. 

Mrs.  Dunn  stood  far  down  towards  the  engine,  and 
had  the  strained  eager  look  of  one  who  has  been 
told  that  this  will  be  the  Berlin  train  and  yet  has 
had  sufficient  German  experience  to  know  that  it 
may  be  from  Hanover  after  all.  Mrs.  Dunn  had  de- 
cided that  in  any  case  it  would  be  wisest  to  just 
stand  still  and  wait  until  Grace  came  along,  suppos- 
ing this  proved  to  be  her  train!  It  would  be  so  easy 
to  miss  the  girl  if  she  ran  up  and  down  looking,  and 
then  if  she  missed  her,  she  would  n't  know  but  that 
it  wasn't  the  Berlin  train  after  all.  Mrs.  Dunn's 
German  was  not  her  weak  point  in  the  ordinary  ac- 
ceptance of  the  term;  it  was  actually  the  weakest 
thing  about  her,  for  Mrs.  Dunn  was  a  strong  character. 
But  she  never  spoke  German  if  she  could  possibly 
help  it,  and  being  short  and  stout  and  inclined  to 
get  red  if  she  ran,  she  never  ran  if  she  could  possibly 
help  that,  either. 

It  was  only  a  minute  or  so  till  the  girl  came  safely 
along,  a  tall,  slight  girl,  with  big  blue  eyes  and  pretty 
babyish  hair  that  was  yellow  and  curled.  She  wore  a 
plain,  well-fitting  suit,  a  freshly  laundered  French 
lingerie  waist,  a  very  handsome  large  green  hat,  and 
had  two  umbrellas  and  an  Alpenstock  hi  her  hand, 
the  three  strapped  together. 


MRS.  DUNN  MEETS  GRACE  3 

"My  dear,  you  look  altogether  too  civilized  for 
Dichtenberg,"  laughed  Mrs.  Dunn,  embracing  her, 
"and  yet  you  do  look  so  nice,  too.  What  a  pretty 
hat!  But  what  is  the  Alpenstock  for?" 

"To  climb  with,"  said  Grace;  "I  bought  it  on  pur- 
pose for  the  mountain,  you  know." 

"Oh,  but,  my  child,  there  are  no  mountains  to 
climb,  just  the  mildest,  sunniest  slopes." 

The  girl's  face  fell,  "No  mountains!  I  thought 
that  it  was  the  Harz." 

"It 's  the  very  outermost  edge  of  the  Harz.  The 
Harz  begins  just  behind  the  house.  It 's  such  an 
interesting  place.  You  can  see  the  Bracken  from  up 
on  top  of  the  castle  tower.  Goethe's  Brocken,  you 
know,  —  where  Faust  and  the  witches  danced.  Oh, 
you  '11  be  just  wild  over  the  place.  There  's  a  well 
eighty  metres  deep.  I  bought  a  book  that  tells  all 
about  it.  But  where  is  your  baggage  receipt,  dear  ? 
We  must  be  seeing  to  that,  you  know."  Mrs.  Dunn 
paused,  completely  out  of  breath. 

"I  gave  it  to  the  porter  with  my  bags." 

"Which  porter?  And  I  've  managed  to  get  a  bach- 
elor, after  all,  dear." 

"That  one  there.    A  bachelor!    Who?" 

"  He  '11  get  the  trunks ;  we  have  n't  to  worry.  And 
now  I  '11  tell  you  what  we  '11  do ;  we  '11  go  straight 
out  in  front  of  the  station  and  get  coffee,  and  I  '11  tell 
you  all  about  everybody." 


4  JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Can  you  get  coffee  out  in  front  of  the  station?  " 

"Yes,  you  can  in  Brunswick.  They  have  a  very 
nice  restaurant  out  in  front  here.  I  '11  tell  the 
porter  to  have  your  things  and  a  carriage  ready  at 
seven  —  " 

"At  seven  —  " 

"The  train  doesn't  go  till' half-past,  dear,  and  it 
does  n't  go  from  this  station ;  it  goes  from  the  West- 
bahnhof.  That 's  what  makes  it  so  difficult  to  go 
from  here.  It 's  easier  from  Hildesheim.  The  train 
goes  from  both  stations  in  Hildesheim.  On  account 
of  Derneburg,  you  know.  You  change  at  Derneburg. 
It  sounds  complicated,  but  it 's  really  very  simple. 
Where  did  I  put  my  platform  ticket?  Oh,  here  it 
is."  They  went  through  the  exit  gate. 

"But  why  can't  we  go  from  this  station?  " 

"Why,  my  dear,  we  can't,  that 's  all.  That 's  the 
awful  nuisance  in  the  country  here ;  the  country  lines 
have  their  own  crazy  little  stations  most  anywhere  off 
in  the  outskirts." 

"But  is  there  no  train  until  seven?" 

"No,  and  really  I  thank  heaven  there  isn't,  for 
I  have  half  a  million  things  to  do.  Hammer  and 
tacks  and  alcohol  and  paper  napkins  to  buy,  and  tea- 
cloths  and  spirit-lamps  and,  oh,  I  don't  know  what 
all.  My  husband  is  a  perfect  dear,  but  he  is  particu- 
lar and  he  wants  some  certain  comforts  always,  you 
know,  and  even  if  he  did  n't  the  rest  of  you  would, 


MRS.  DUNN  MEETS  GRACE  5 

for  you  could  n't  live  there  without  them.  Oh,  Grace, 
it 's  the  most  adorable  place!  Such  a  view  and  then 
the  old  castle!  Barbarossa  was  actually  there  once, 
and  Mansfeld  blew  it  up,  and  I  've  such  a  pleasant 
party." 

"The  actor  Mansfield?" 

"No,  no,  dear,  the  other  one  —  the  general  or 
prince  or  whatever  he  was.  But,  Grace,  we  're  going 
to  have  the  nicest  party.  I  didn't  have  time 
to  write  you,  but  they  are  all  just  lovely,  all  of 
them." 

"Who  have  you  asked?" 

"Well,  not  very  many.  Between  ourselves,  I  never 
think  large  parties  are  a  success  for  long  hi  a  lonesome 
place.  Some  one  is  sure  to  have  a  quarrel  or  fall  in 
love  or  do  something  of  that  sort.  And  then  it 's 
quite  impossible  to  get  along  pleasantly  after  that,  of 
course." 

"  Who  is  coming?   Who  is  the  bachelor?  " 

"The  Ellerslies  are  the  married  people;  you  re- 
member them,  don't  you?" 

"Not  very  well.    Do  I  know  the  man?" 

"  My  dear,  they  're  charming,  simply  charming ; 
both  awfully  good  looking  and  passionately  in  love  — 
with  each  other,  of  course." 

"How  nice!"    Grace  sounded  sincere. 

"Yes,  isn't  it?"  There  was  no  doubt  about  Mrs. 
Dunn's  sincerity.  "Bob  and  I  are  always  happy  to- 


6  JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

gether,  too,  and  that  leaves  the  young  man  to  you, 
just  as  it  should  be." 

"  Oh,  yes,  about  the  young  man?  " 

"Well,  he  is  n't  so  very  young;  he 's  about  thirty. 
Nellie  suggested  him,  but  I  've  always  known  him,  too. 
I  had  to  consult  her  because  Frank  is  so  awfully  jeal- 
ous. And  that  reminds  me,  dear,  you  '11  be  just  a 
little  careful  about  Frank,  won't  you?  Nellie  is  so 
very  jealous,  too,  you  know." 

"How  do  you  mean?    Is  n't  he  her  husband?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes,  of  course,  he  's  her  husband ;  but 
still,  you  must  be  careful  about  walking  with  him,  or 
looking  up  in  his  face,  you  know.  Of  course,  you 
would  n't  mean  anything,  but  she  would  n't  like  it." 

"  I  '11  be  careful,  Cousin  Lizzie ;  are  they  all  there 
now?" 

"Oh,  there's  a  waiter!  What  do  you  want  for 
coffee?  I  want  potato  salad  and  Munich  beer." 

"I  think  I  '11  have  chocolate." 

"Have  just  what  you  like,  you  know;  that  is 
going  to  be  the  beauty  of  my  plan;  every  one  is  to 
have  just  exactly  what  he  or  she  likes.  I  made  that 
a  distinct  understanding  in  getting  the  party  up." 

"How  nice!"  Grace  commented;  they  were  seated 
now  at  one  of  the  little  tables  upon  the  terrace.  "Is 
Mr.  Dunn  there  now?" 

"No,  dear."  Mrs.  Dunn  made  an  effort  to  rally  her 
faculties  after  the  giving  of  the  order  in  German.  "I 


MRS.  DUNN  MEETS  GRACE  7 

could  n't  have  had  him  or  any  one  come  until  I  was 
settled.  I  'd  rather  any  of  them  came  sooner  than 
Bob,  though.  Bob  can't  stand  moving  or  settling; 
he  hates  all  that  kind  of  thing.  It  simply  drives  him 
wild.  He  can't  bear  to  be  the  least  little  bit  upset 
or  uncomfortable.  I  left  him  in  Hanover.  They  're 
having  opera  there  this  week,  and  he  's  passionately 
fond  of  music.  I  've  been  so  heavenly  glad  that  he 
was  happy  in  a  good  hotel ;  there  's  been  so  much  to 
do  and  it 's  been  so  awful  getting  the  things  up-hill 
with  only  a  donkey." 

"Oh,  is  there  a  hill?" 

"Of  course.  Dichtenberg,  you  know.  Berg  is 
always  a  hill.  This  one  is  so  stony,  too." 

"When  are  the  others  coming?" 

"  It  is  n't  quite  settled.  The  Ellerslies  thought  any 
time  after  to-morrow  and,  don't  mention  it,  but  I 
know  that  Mr.  Belden  will  come  on  Thursday,  surely. 
I  've  had  to  see  to  getting  all  their  things  up  the 
hill,  too,  and,  oh,  my  dear,  you  don't  know  what  it 
is  to  see  to  other  people's  things  on  a  steep  hillside 
with  only  a  small  donkey  to  carry  all  the  freight." 

Grace  laughed.    "Is  n't  there  any  omnibus?" 

"My  dear,  there's  nothing!  There's  absolutely 
nothing!  Just  the  good,  plain,  practical  necessities  of 
life,  and  it  stops  right  there.  But  such  air,  such 
walks!  Oh,  it 's  too  good  to  be  true.  I  don't  mind 
seeing  to  everything  for  everybody  if  we  can  just 


8  JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

have  a  fortnight  in  the  country!  I  do  so  love  to  be 
in  the  country." 

"It's  very  pretty,  I  suppose?  Who  did  you  say 
the  man  was?" 

"My  dear,  it 's  lovely,  it 's  ideal.  You  '11  go  wild 
over  it.  And  that  castle!  Otto  IV.  kept  Christmas 
there  once.  Just  think !  There  are  sixteen  bastions ; 
you  can  walk  around  where  they  used  to  be.  You 
brought  your  paints,  did  n't  you?  " 

"Yes,  indeed.    But,  Cousin  Lizzie,  who  —  " 

"  You  '11  go  wild  over  the  views.  I  told  you,  did  n't 
I,  that  it 's  a  castle  where  Barbarossa  came?  We  can 
dig  it  out,  —  such  a  nice  place  to  dig ;  you  scrape  the 
dirt  back  of  you  right  down  the  hill.  There  's  a  book 
all  about  it ;  I  bought  one.  Only  fancy,  there  's  — 

' '  How  romantic !   Is  it  far  to  walk  ?   Is  it  a  quiet  — ' ' 

"Far!  It 's  right  back  of  the  house.  Will  Belden 
is  just  going  to  be  crazy  about  it,  I  know ;  you  '11  like 
him  so  much,  Grace ;  he  's  such  a  nice  fellow.  Nellie 
Ellerslie  and  I  have  known  him  for  years.  I  told  you 
that  it  was  she  who  suggested  him  for  our  party.  I 
really  was  afraid  to  pick  out  the  single  man  myself. 
You  know  Frank  Ellerslie  is  so  jealous.  It  had  to  be 
some  tried  and  true  friend  of  theirs.  It  would  spoil 
everything  if  the  Ellerslies  had  trouble,  you  know. 
And  they  have  the  name  of  being  apt  to  have  trouble." 

"I  can  just  remember  Mrs.  Ellerslie,"  said  Grace, 
thoughtfully ;  "  she  was  married  a  month  or  so  before 


MRS.  DUNN  MEETS  GRACE  9 

we  came  over  here  to  live.    She  's  very,  very  pretty, 
isn't  she?" 

"  She  's  a  beauty.  And  her  husband  is  just  as  good 
to  look  at  as  she  is ;  hi  fact,  I  'm  not  surprised  that 
people  say  that  he  makes  her  quite  as  miserable  as 
she  does  him.  I  often  think  that  a  woman  who  is  n't 
pretty  has  a  great  deal  to  be  grateful  for.  Not  that 
I  'd  want  Nellie  to  lose  any  of  her  good  looks!  I  just 
love  to  look  at  her,  she  's  so  pretty.  I  'm  awfully 
fond  of  her.  And  I  like  him,  too.  Well,  there  '11  be 
absolutely  no  one  to  beguile  either  of  them  here, 
thank  goodness.  Will  Belden  is  their  own  friend,  and 
Bob  is  terribly  fussy  and  makes  awful  rows  over 
nothing,  but  he  does  n't  know  that  there  is  another 
woman  in  the  world  except  me,  I  verily  believe." 
Mrs.  Dunn's  voice  sank  tenderly. 

"I  'm  sure  that  we  are  going  to  have  a  good  time," 
said  the  young  girl,  thoughtfully.  "I'm  so  glad  to 
think  that  you  asked  me.  I  take  it  as  a  real  honor. 
I  do  hope  that  Mr.  —  Mr.  Belden  is  nice." 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled  and  patted  her  hand.  "I'm 
sure  that  we  are  going  to  have  a  good  time,"  she  said, 
smiling.  "I  don't  see  how  we  can  help  but  have  a 
good  time.  Six  thoroughly  congenial  people  hi  a  beau- 
tiful, interesting  spot,  and  nothing  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  to  bother  or  upset  any  one.  And  Will  Belden 
is  nice,  dear,  I  can  assure  you  of  that." 

For  quite  an  hour  they  sat  there,  chatting  and  ab- 


10          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

sorbing  nourishment.  Then  they  paid  the  waiter,  left 
the  restaurant  and  went  out  with  this  little  country 
memoranda : 

Paper  Matches 

Envelopes  Fly-paper 

Pencils  Tear-cloths 

Pens  String 

Two  packs  cards  Clothes-brush 

Hammer  and  tacks  Ink 

Alcohol  Paper  napkins 

"What  a  lot  of  things  to  buy!"  Grace  commented, 
open-eyed. 

"My  dear,  this  is  nothing  to  what  I  have  bought 
and  gotten  up  that  hill  already!  Chairs  and  a  book- 
case, and  soap  and,  oh,  I  don't  know  what  all.  Such 
loads  of  stuff!" 

"What  made  you  bring  so  much?" 

"My  dear,  I  simply  had  to.  Bob  wants  to  be  com- 
fortable and  he  just  simply  has  to  be  comfortable." 

"But  why  do  you  buy  things  for  all  the  rest?" 

"Oh,  my  dear,"  Mrs.  Dunn's  face  was  very  expres- 
sive, "  I  see  you  've  never  camped  out." 

"No,"  said  Grace,  "I  never  have." 

"Then  you  have  a  great  deal  to  learn,  dear.  If 
you  want  to  have  any  little  comforts  for  yourself, 
you  must  provide  every  one  else  first." 


CHAPTER  II 

DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH 

IT  was  a  little  after  eight-thirty  on  that  same  day 
that  the  sweet  little  Landesbahn  puffed  prettily  up 
beside  the  station  of  Dichtenberg,  quivered  modestly, 
trembled  slightly,  and  then  stopped  altogether. 

Mrs.  Dunn  hustled  Grace  off  on  to  the  graveled 
platform  with  an  energy  worthy  of  a  bigger  engine, 
and  then  hurried  forward  to  see  if  the  trunks  were 
all  there.  Two  or  three  men  were  assisting  the 
Dichtenberg  station-master  to  unload,  and  the  post- 
man had  stood  his  yellow  mail-cart  up  on  end 
and  was  lending  a  willing  hand  with  a  cheer  good 
to  behold.  The  freight  seemed  to  be  mostly  milk- 
cans,  and  a  wise  and  knowing  old  man  stood  by  and 
eyed  the  cans  with  an  expression  which  allowed  no 
can  to  escape. 

"He  drives  them  up  to  the  Domane"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  explaining  the  idiosyncrasies  of  her  new  abode 
to  Grace. 

"Drives  what  up?" 

"The  milk-cans." 

"What  is  the  Domdnef" 


12 

"I  can't  just  find  out  with  my  German,  but  it 
owns  all  the  country  and  all  the  milk-cans  here- 
abouts." 

"Oh!"  cried  the  girl,  "there  are  my  trunks!" 

"So  they  are;  but,  my  goodness  me,  where  is  the 
Eselwagen?  it  ought  to  be  here  somewhere." 

"What  is  an  Eselwagen?" 

"A  donkey,  dear;  the  donkey  was  coming  down  to 
meet  us!" 

"Alone!" 

"No,  they  send  a  boy  with  him,  of  course.  Do 
just  step  around  behind  the  Domdne  milk- wagon  and 
see  if  you  can  see  either.  Look  close ;  it 's  a  very 
little  donkey." 

Grace  walked  around  behind  the  Domane's  milk- 
wagon  and  saw  nothing  but  a  darkness  total  and 
complete.  Trying  to  investigate  further,  she  stepped 
into  a  ditch  full  of  water. 

"Ow!"  she  cried,  in  complete  astonishment. 

"My  dear,  you  stepped  in  the  ditch,  I  know  that 
you  did."  It  was  Mrs.  Dunn's  voice  toning  to  real 
distress  through  the  Stygian  blackness.  "I  ought  to 
have  remembered  and  warned  you.  You  see  I  came 
on  a  morning  train  myself,  and  learned  the  ditch  by 
daylight.  Did  you  get  very  wet?" 

"Only  one  foot." 

"That 's  good.  I  believe  that  they  must  have  for- 
gotten to  send  the  donkey  —  they  do  sometimes  — 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  13 

or  perhaps  he  ran  away.  Anyhow  —  God  bless  my 
soul!" 

"Oh,  Cousin  Lizzie,  where  are  you?"  It  was  the 
girl's  frightened  voice  this  tune.  "What  has  hap- 
pened to  you?" 

"I  —  I  'm  right  here.  It 's  just  that  I  fell  over  the 
donkey ;  he  's  right  here,  too.  I  never  knew  them 
to  stand  him  here  before.  Now  I  wonder  who  came 
down  with  him!" 

"Who  generally  comes  down  with  him?" 

"I  don't  know.  You  see,  all  I  know  is  that  the 
donkey  brings  the  things  up.  Wait  a  minute  until  I 
go  and  ask  who  is  here  with  him." 

She  disappeared,  and  Grace  stood  still.  There  were 
some  far-distant  twinkles  that  looked  too  near  to  be 
stars,  but  the  main  outlook  was  not  brilliant. 

Presently  Mrs.  Dunn  returned.  "I  'm  so  relieved. 
The  boy  is  here.  They  don't  know  just  where  he  is 
right  now,  but  when  he  comes  for  the  donkey  they  '11 
give  him  all  our  things.  They  've  piled  them  up 
together." 

"Is  it  safe  to  leave  them  outside?" 

"Oh,  yes;  and  now,  dear,  we  must  start,  for  we 
have  an  awfully  long  walk  up-hill.  I  don't  know, 
I  'm  sure,  what  Bob  will  say  to  this  hill ;  he  hates  to 
walk  up-hill.  But  he  need  n't  ever  come  down  again 
until  we  go,  not  unless  he  deliberately  chooses  to 
do  so." 


14          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Is  it  so  very  far?" 

"Well,  it's  a  good  ways.  They  call  it  twenty 
minutes,  but  I  guess  three  quarters  of  an  hour  is 
nearer.  Oh,  Grace,  how  you  will  enjoy  the  castle! 
It 's  so  interesting!  My  book  says  that  there  were 
secret  passages!  I  declare  it  gives  you  such  a  queer 
feeling.  And  they  found  fifteen  skeletons  hi  the  dun- 
geons! We'll  take  coffee  there  some  day  and  see 
them  all.  Look  out,  dear,  we  turn  here.  Oh,  you 
tripped  against  the  sidewalk.  There  's  a  sidewalk 
along  here  for  a  little  way,  and  I  forgot  it  in  the 
dark." 

"Is  that  the  Gasihofaheadl" 

"No,  my  dear,  that 's  the  Molkerei.    It 's  —  " 

"Oh,  mercy  on  us,  Cousin  Lizzie,  what  is  it?" 

"  I  just  started  to  tell  you,  dear,  it 's  the  Molkerei; 
doesn't  it  smell  terribly?  But  just  beyond  it  is  a 
real  windmill.  It  turns  all  day  hi  the  most  pictur- 
esque manner  —  it 's  ever  so  interesting!" 

"  Dear  me,  I  'm  glad  we  don't  live  near  that  Mol- 
kerei. What  is  a  Molkerei,  anyway?" 

"  I  don't  know,  I  'm  sure.  I  believe  it  means  milk 
in  some  connection.  You  know  my  German  is  so 
poor.  Oh,  dear,  I  'm  afraid  that  Bob  and  the  Ellers- 
lies  will  be  fearfully  vexed  over  this  hill." 

"I  don't  mind  it  at  all.    How  far  are  we  now?" 

"We  aren't  even  started.  There  are  these  two 
long  straight  stretches,  and  then  a  frightful  hill.  I 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  15 

declare  it  is  enough  to  make  even  my  legs  ache  to 
only  think  of  that  hill!" 

"Is  it  so  very  bad?" 

"It 's  steep,  and  then  it 's  so  stony.  I  do  hope  all 
the  trunks  will  get  up  to-night.  It 's  so  hard  getting 
things  up.  Sometimes  I  almost  lose  my  patience  — 
only,  of  course,  I  never  do.  You  see  the  Esel  (Esel  is 
German  for  donkey)  is  so  very  little." 

"But,  Cousin  Lizzie,  you  talk  as  if  you  had  been 
here  months.  When  did  you  come?" 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been  here  months ;  but  it 's  only 
a  week.  But,  oh,  Grace,  how  I  have  worked!  You 
don't  know  all  I  Ve  done,  none  of  you  ever  will 
know.  The  place  was  simple,  and  my  husband  is 
so  particular.  I  even  had  to  get  them  the  brown 
cream  to  polish  his  tan  shoes.  Is  n't  this  hill  awful? 
I  get  so  out  of  breath." 

"Is  that  light  ahead,  the  hotel?" 

"Oh,  dear,  no,  it's  ever  so  much  farther  up  the 
hill.  I  do  wonder  how  Nellie  will  take  this  hill ;  she 
always  wears  high-heeled  shoes,  you  know." 

"But  they  've  camped  out  so  much,  have  n't  they? 
I  thought  he  was  a  great  sportsman." 

"  Yes,  I  believe  they  have  camped  out  a  great  deal. 
But  you  never  can  tell  anything  about  Americans 
camping  out.  A  camp  in  America  may  have  porce- 
lain tubs  in  it,  you  know.  Oh,  I  suppose  that  she  '11 
have  some  walking  shoes.  Probably  I  worry  be- 


16          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

cause  I  'm  so  tired.  Whenever  I  walk  up  this  hill  I 
get  fearfully  scared  over  thinking  what  Bob  will  say 
to  it." 

"Where  's  Bobby;  I  never  thought  to  ask." 

"He  's  in  Hanover;  or  rather,  he  's  just  outside  of 
Hanover.  I  do  wish  he  was  here,  but  his  school  opens 
now,  and  maybe  it 's  just  as  well,  because  a  child  is 
hard  to  manage  in  a  grown-up  party." 

"Is  he  as  ciinning  as  ever?    He  was  so  cunning." 

"He's  pretty  cunning  yet.  And  he  's  so  good- 
tempered.  Can  you  see  those  poplars  to  the  right? 
Napoleon  planted  them." 

"Himself!" 

"His  men,  of  course.  He  had  this  way  built  to 
march  his  troops  —  well,  I  really  don't  know  where 
he  did  march  his  troops.  But  Magdeburg  is  just  be- 
yond Brunswick,  and  he  took  that,  anyway." 

"What  made  him  have  just  one  little  short  row 
planted?" 

"I  don't  know.  Oh,  my,  the  hill  never  seemed  so 
long  before.  But  you  '11  love  the  castle,  Grace, 
it 's  —  " 

"Is  that  light  ahead,  the  hotel?" 

"No,  dear,  it  isn't.  We  turn  there,  and  it  gets 
steeper.  Oh,  my,  but  I  'm  out  of  breath!" 

"Isn't  there  any  way  to  get  a  carriage?" 

"All  they  have  is  plows  and  oxen.  I  know  Bob  's 
going  to  be  furious  the  first  time  that  he  goes  up 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  17 

there.  There  ;s  just  that  one  thing  about  my  husband 
—  he  does  so  hate  to  make  an  effort." 

"But  he  wanted  to  come,  did  n't  he?" 

"Wanted  to  come!  He  's  crazy  about  it.  Only  he 
won't  like  this  hill.  I  'm  afraid  that  no  one  will  like 
the  hill;  but  then,  we  never  need  to  go  down  once 
we  're  up  there.  There  's  nothing  to  go  down  for." 

"Where  is  the  forest;  behind  the  house?" 

"Yes,  right  back  of  the  house.  So  handy.  Such  a 
lovely  wood,  too.  We  turn  here,  dear ;  is  n't  it  steep?  " 

It  was  indeed  steep.  They  toiled  on  in  silence, 
Mrs.  Dunn  puffing  audibly.  Presently  she  panted 
"Turn  here,"  and  they  turned  into  an  allee  between 
planted  pines. 

"Now  we're  almost  there,"  said  the  stout  little 
lady,  weakly.  "Oh,  my  goodness  me,  how  mad  Bob 
will  be  when  he  first  goes  to  the  top." 

Out  rushed  a  little  snapping,  snarling  dog,  and 
barked  frantically  and  viciously  at  them. 

"Will  he  bite?"  Grace  asked,  anxiously. 

" I  don't  believe  so  —  but  —  I'm  too  —  out  —  of 
breath  to  care.  Oh  me!  Oh  my!"  They  had  come 
out  of  the  allee  into  an  open  space  full  of  summer- 
hotel  tables  and  chairs,  and  the  older  woman  sank 
down  upon  one  of  the  seats.  "Goodness,  but  I  am 
tired!  I  've  been  on  my  feet  every  one  of  these  days, 
and  such  a  lot  to  do." 

The  dog  jumped  about  them,  yelping  and  snapping. 


18          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Did  you  say  he  did  bite?"  Grace  asked,  shaking 
her  umbrella  at  the  vicious  brute. 

"Yes,  he  bites  —  sometimes.  He's  the  doctor's 
dog  and  sometimes  he  bites  patients.  I  don't  be- 
lieve that  he  ever  bites  other  people." 

"He  bites  patients!" 

"He's  bitten  three  children  that  were  being 
brought  to  consult  him." 

Grace  looked  at  the  dog  with  eyes  of  horror. 

"He  ought  to  be  shot,"  she  said,  warmly.  "Can't 
Mr.  —  Mr.  Belden  shoot  him?" 

"Well,  dear,  you  see,  it 's  the  doctor's  only  way  to 
get  any  patients ;  that 's  what  I  believe.  It 's  right 
funny  to  see  them  sitting  out  in  front  side  by  side, 
watching  fiercely  for  some  one  to  practice  on.  I 
should  n't  like  to  interfere,  you  know." 

Grace  watched  the  dog  warily.  The  dog  watched 
her  back. 

"Come,  we  '11  go  on  now,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said,  getting 
up.  "  I  '11  just  go  around  to  the  kitchen  window  and 
say  that  we  're  ready  for  supper,  and  then  we  '11  hurry 
and  wash.  I  bought  a  spirit  lamp  and  kettle  for  each 
room,  so  we  can  always  have  hot  water  whenever  we 
wish.  I  don't  know  what  Bob  will  say  to  no  bath- 
tub, but  you  can't  have  everything  cityfied  in  the 
country." 

She  disappeared  around  the  corner  of  one  house 
and  Grace  stood  still  by  the  corner  of  the  other.  A 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  19 

lantern  hung  up  in  the  trees  above  shed  a  feeble  and 
uncertain  light  about.  All  that  showed  up  well  in  its 
reflection  were  the  eyes  of  the  doctor's  dog  as  he 
stood  and  glowered  at  the  stranger.  He  had  the  head 
of  a  canine  Mephistopheles. 

Mrs.  Dunn  returned  almost  at  once.  "  Come,  dear," 
she  said,  briskly,  "I  said  that  we  would  be  ready  in 
ten  minutes,  we—  She  stopped  short.  "Isn't 
some  one  calling?" 

"  It 's  some  one  calling  in  the  other  house,"  said 
Grace,  "something  about  visitors.  They  don't  mean 
us." 

"  Oh,  I  thought  some  one  was  calling  to  us.  Never 
mind."  They  entered  a  long,  straight  hall  with  a 
small  lamp  at  the  further  end.  "I  thought  maybe 
that  they  —  She  stopped  again.  "  They  do  want 
us,"  she  said;  "some  one  's  running." 

It  was  Minna,  the  chambermaid;  she  was  coming 
after  them,  crying,  "Gracious  lady!  Gracious  lady!" 

In  the  middle  of  the  dark  hall  they  all  stopped. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  Mrs.  Dunn  asked. 

"One  Herr  is  arrived!" 

"Arrived!" 

"Yes,  this  noon." 

"This  noon!  Why,  who  can  that  be? "  Mrs.  Dunn 
seemed  a  little  stunned.  "If  Bob  has  come  here  and 
not  found  me,  I  don't  know  what  will  happen!  What 
train  did  he  come  on?  "  she  asked  then. 


20          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"The  gentleman  did  not  come  by  train.  He 
walked." 

''Walked!" 

"Yes,  gracious  lady." 

"From  where?" 

"We  do  not  know." 

"My  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn  to  Grace,  "it 's  Frank 
Ellerslie.  He  and  Nellie  have  had  one  of  their  little 
fusses  and  he  has  just  walked  off.  They  were  at 
Harzburg,  and  it 's  a  very  fashionable  place,  and 
that's  just  exactly  what  has  happened.  Oh  dear! 
Oh  dear!" 

Grace  did  n't  know  what  to  say. 

"Which  room  did  you  put  the  gentleman  in?" 
Mrs.  Dunn  asked. 

"He  would  not  look  through  the  rooms;  he  went 
at  once  and  took  the  end  one,  number  eighteen." 

"Why,  Grace,  that 's  the  room  that  I  fixed  for  you. 
The  Ellerslies  were  to  have  the  big  one  opposite  mine." 

Minna  stood  helpless  and  un-understanding. 

"Is  he  up  there  now?" 

"  No,  gracious  lady ;  he  left  his  Rucksack  and  went 
out  at  once  and  has  not  returned." 

"Now,  that's  just  Frank  Ellerslie  all  over,"  cried 
Mrs.  Dunn,  exasperatedly.  "  He  's  mad  at  his  wife,  so 
he  just  goes  and  upsets  everything  for  everybody. 
Well,  I  shall  take  his  knapsack  right  out  of  that  room 
and  put  it  in  the  room  meant  for  them,  and  you  shall 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  21 

have  your  own  room.  Come,  dear;  bring  some  lamps, 
Minna." 

"The  lamps  sit  above  already,  gracious  lady." 

"  Very  well.   We  '11  be  down  in  ten  minutes,  Minna." 

Then  they  went  up-stairs  to  where  another  small 
lamp  illuminated  another  long  straight  corridor,  fur- 
nished simply  with  a  large  sofa  and  two  large  trunks. 

"Are  there  many  others  staying  in  the  house?" 

"My  dear,  there  is  no  one;  we  have  the  whole 
thing  to  ourselves.  It 's  out  of  the  season." 

"  How  nice !  What  fun  it  will  be  when  they  all 
come!" 

"Yes,  it  will  be  delightful;  if  only  Nellie  and  her 
husband  haven't  had  a  quarrel.  I  must  confess 
Frank  's  coming  alone  like  this  frightens  me.  But," 
she  added  more  cheerfully,  "you'll  be  sure  to  like 
Will  Belden  —  anybody  can  get  on  with  him ;  and 
my  husband  's  a  perfect  love." 

"Why  did  you  ask  the  Ellerslies  if  you  knew  that 
they  quarreled  so,  Cousin  Lizzie?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  stopped  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  hall 
and  stooped  to  take  up  a  lighted  lamp  placed  ready 
there  in  the  window-seat. 

"Well,  dear,  to  be  frank  with  you,  it  wasn't  easy 
to  get  together  a  party  of  Americans  in  Germany  for 
just  this  time  in  the  year,  and  Nellie  does  need  some 
simple  living  most  terribly.  I  'm  really  very,  very 
fond  of  them  both.  Frank  Ellerslie  is  such  a  gentle- 


22          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

man,  and  his  wife  is  bright,  and  they  both  can  be 
perfectly  charming  when  they  like.  One  must  n't  ex- 
pect one's  friends  to  be  perfect,  and  I  never  do.  If 
they  '11  just  be  happy  and  let  me  make  them  comfort- 
able, it 's  all  I  ask  of  my  friends.  There,  this  is  your 
room,  dear.  Goodness,  but  look  at  it!  How  he  has 
messed  it  up;  any  one  could  see  that  he  was  mad  at 
his  wife  only  to  look  at  the  wash-stand.  I  don't  see 
how  men  ever  manage  to  take  so  much  temper  out 
in  splashing!" 

The  gentleman  in  question  had  evidently  only 
waited  to  turn  his  Rucksack  upside  down  on  the  bed, 
seek  out  what  he  needed,  shave,  and  then  had  forth- 
with departed.  Mrs.  Dunn  began  to  pick  up  the  scat- 
tered articles  upon  the  bed,  and  Grace  glanced  around 
her  new  quarters.  The  room  was  long  and  narrow, 
with  a  big  window  at  one  end  and  a  door  at  the  other. 
A  toilet  table  had  been  constructed  by  combining  an 
ordinary  table,  a  white  cloth,  a  mirror,  and  two 
candles.  Several  bright  prints  were  pinned  around 
the  walls,  and  a  wicker  armchair  with  chintz- 
covered  cushions  stood  by  the  window. 

"You  see,  I  'd  made  it  just  as  attractive  as  I  pos- 
sibly could,"  Mrs.  Dunn  mourned,  "and  now  for  you 
to  find  it  like  this !  I  declare,  it 's  too  bad.  But  all 
we  can  do  is  just  to  pick  up  his  things  and  dump 
them  into  Nellie's  room.  You  gather  up  what 's  on 
the  wash-stand,  and  I  '11  carry  the  Rucksack" 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  23 

No  sooner  said  than  done. 

"Where  is  his  room?"  Grace  asked,  as  they  went 
down  the  dimly-lit  hall,  each  with  both  hanols 
full. 

"The  double  doors  to  the  left;  mine  are  the  double 
doors  to  the  right.  You  see,  you  all  get  the  sun 
and  —  " 

"I  can't  open  the  door,"  the  girl  said. 

"Let  me;  you  see,  you  press  the  handle  so"  — the 
door  opened  —  "there  's  a  table  right  —  Goodness! " 

With  a  heavy  clatter  and  bang  Mrs.  Dunn  went 
headforemost  over  something,  and  Grace  came  tum- 
bling after.  The  knapsack,  its  contents,  and  the 
toilet  things  flew  far  and  wide.  The  darkness  was 
profound. 

"Well,  I'd  like  to  know,"  began  Mrs.  Dunn's  in- 
dignant voice;  then,  recollecting  herself,  "Oh,  my 
dear,  are  you  hurt?" 

"No;  but  what  happened?" 

"  I  fell  over  something,  I  don't  know  what.  There 
was  nothing  but  the  table  in  the  room  this  morning  — 
in  the  center,  I  mean." 

"It 's  a  valise,"  said  the  girl,  "I  'm  feeling  it.  It 's 
a  great  big  leather  valise.  Perhaps  the  —  the  other 
man  has  come,  too." 

"No,  it 's  Frank  Ellerslie's,"  cried  Mrs.  Dunn,  as 
near  to  angry  as  she  ever  became;  "it's  his  other 
valise,  and  to  think  that  here,  in  this  place  where 


24          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

there  are  no  lights,  he  just  deliberately  set  it  inside  of 
one  door  and  went  somewhere  else  to  dress.  It 's  a 
mercy  we  were  n't  killed !  Wait  until  I  get  the  lamp. 
Don't  stir  until  I  come  back." 

She  felt  her  way  gingerly  into  the  hall  and  came 
back  in  a  minute  with  a  lamp.  It  was  not  very  illu- 
minating, but  it  did  what  it  could. 

"Nothing  is  broken,"  said  Grace,  looking  about; 
"but,  oh  dear,  what  a  mess !" 

"We  '11  have  to  leave  it  until  morning.  He  can't 
come  back  to-night,  so  we  can  leave  it  all  this  way." 

"But  the  maid  said  that  he  only  went  out  to 
walk?" 

"He  'd  be  back  by  this  time  if  he  'd  gone  to  walk. 
Maybe  he  's  gone  somewhere  to  meet  Nellie  and  make 
up.  They  're  madly  in  love  with  each  other,  you 
know."  She  turned  to  go. 

Grace  willingly  followed,  and  together  they  re- 
turned to  the  end  room.  "But  I  can't  dress  or  wash 
or  brush  without  my  things,"  said  the  girl;  "when 
will  they  come?  When  do  trunks  come  here?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  put  down  the  lamp  with  a  sigh.  "  Don't 
ask  me.  That  hill,  and  then  that  valise,  have  just 
knocked  all  the  ideas  out  of  my  head.  The  donkey 
may  not  get  up  till  late,  and  he  always  brings  what 
you  don't  want  first.  Come  to  my  room  and  use  my 
soap,  and  then  we  '11  eat  and  I  '11  lend  you  a  night- 
gown and  we  '11  go  to  bed." 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  25 

Grace  took  up  the  lamp.  "Very  well,"  she  said, 
more  or  less  cheerfully. 

They  went  to  the  room  with  double  doors  that  lay 
to  the  right,  going  down  the  hall.  Mrs.  Dunn  opened 
the  door,  the  lamp's  rays  spread  within,  and  Grace 
gave  a  little  cry  of  surprise  and  pleasure. 

"You  like  it?"  the  older  woman  asked. 

"Like  it?    Why,  it  looks  startlingly  civilized." 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled.  "This  is  to  be  our  sitting- 
room,"  she  said.  "Bob  and  I  will  sleep  in  the  next 
room.  But  don't  stop  now,  dear;  I  just  gave  you 
this  glimpse  to  brighten  you  up.  We  '11  go  into  my 
bedroom  for  you  to  wash  your  hands,  and  then  we  '11 
go  down  and  get  something  to  eat." 

Five  minutes  later  they  were  down-stairs  in  a  little, 
little  private  dining-room  with  a  good  supper  of  ome- 
lette, potatoes,  brown  bread  and  butter  spread  before 
them. 

When  their  host  came  in  to  take  orders  for  beer, 
Mrs.  Dunn  learned  that  the  gentleman  who  had 
come  had  gone  about  six  o'clock  and  that  the  post- 
man was  responsible  for  the  valise. 

"The  postman?"  Grace  repeated. 

"It  must  have  come  post-packet,"  Mrs.  Dunn  ex- 
plained. 

"And  my  luggage!"  exclaimed  Grace. 

"  Oh,  that 's  up  here,  but  you  can't  have  it  until 
morning." 


26          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Not  untO  morning!    Why  not?" 

"Oh,  my  dear,  you  just  have  to  be  patient  here. 
You  see,  there  is  no  one  to  help  with  the  trunks  at 
this  hour.  They  're  perfectly  safe.  It 's  not  one  bit 
of  use  fussing  or  being  in  a  hurry." 

"You  must  lend  me  a  gown,  then." 

"Oh,  that's  easily  done." 

"Where  do  you  suppose  Mr.  Ellerslie  can  be  now?" 

"I  don't  know.  How  should  I  know?  No  one  can 
ever  account  for  the  Ellerslies  —  " 

"When  did  you  say  that  your  husband  was  com- 
ing?" the  girl  asked. 

"  As  soon  as  we  are  all  settled.   He  hates  confusion." 

They  finished  supper  and  then  went  up-stairs. 

"It  will  be  jolly  when  they  all  get  here,"  the  girl 
said  again,  as  their  shoes  went  echoing  down  the  hall. 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  yawning  slightly.  "Oh, 
dear,  but  I  'm  tired." 

She  found  the  desired  gown  and  went  with  Grace 
to  her  room. 

"Be  sure  you  lock  your  door,"  she  said,  as  she 
kissed  her  goodnight.  "The  doors  here  have  such  a 
funny  way  of  springing  open.  You  see,  you  think 
that  you  've  locked  them  and  they  really  were  not 
quite  shut." 

"I  '11  be  careful,"  promised  the  girl. 

Mrs.  Dunn  then  smothered  a  prodigious  yawn  and 
departed. 


DICHTENBERG  LOOMS  HIGH  27 

Grace,  left  alone  by  herself,  immediately  discovered 
that  she  had  never  in  all  her  life  been  so  tired  before. 
She  was  actually  so  tired  that  she  simply  dropped  her 
clothes  on  the  floor  despite  her  excellent  bringing  up, 
and,  donning  the  borrowed  gown,  got  into  bed  at 
once  and  blew  out  her  candle. 

She  forgot  all  about  locking  the  door  until  she  was 
awakened  later  in  the  night  by  hearing  some  one  in 
the  room. 


CHAPTER  III 

GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN 

IT  's  such  a  horribly  uncanny  sensation  —  uhat  of 
waking  in  a  strange,  dark,  new  room,  to  the  knowl- 
edge that  some  one  else  has  come.  Grace's  first 
thought  was  that  she  did  not  know  where  the  matches 
were ;  her  second  thought  was  that  she  had  forgotten 
to  lock  the  door ;  her  third  thought  was  that  it  was  n't 
a  thief,  because  it  wasn't  trying  to  be  quiet;  her 
fourth  thought  was  that  the  door  had  been  left  open, 
for  a  mighty  draught  began  to  draw  through  the  long 
narrow  room.  Then  the  open  door  somehow  made 
her  suddenly  know,  with  a  smile  at  the  situation,  that 
this  must  be  Frank  Ellerslie,  and  with  the  thought 
she  heard  him  hit  the  toilet  table  and  send  one  of  the 
candlesticks  shivering  on  the  floor.  The  same  in- 
stant she  slipped  quickly  out  of  bed,  stepped  softly 
doorwards,  escaped  out  of  the  room,  stole  quickly 
down  the  hall  until  she  felt  the  left-hand  double 
doors  which  were  later  to  belong  to  the  Ellerslies, 
opened  one,  entered,  and  locked  it  after  her.  Her 
subconscious  reflection  as  she  did  all  this  was  that, 


GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN  29 

since  he  supposed  her  room  to  be  his,  she  would 
abandon  it  to  him  and  go  elsewhere. 

She  knew  just  where  the  beds  stood  and  hastily 
climbed  into  the  nearest  one.  As  she  did  so,  she  sud- 
denly remembered  her  clothes  in  the  other  room ! 
Then  she  recalled  that  she  and  Mrs.  Dunn  had  de- 
posited all  of  Mr.  Ellerslie's  belongings  in  the  room 
which  she  had  just  entered.  Then  her  arrant  folly 
swept  frildly  up  about  her.  "Why  did  n't  I  speak?" 
she  cried  wrathfully  to  herself ;  "  how  silly  of  me !  If 
I  had  just  said  'Who  is  it?'  he  would  have  retired  at 
once.  Now  what  are  we  to  do?  And  my  things!" 
Then  she  remembered  the  rat  that  she  wore  hi  her 
hair  and  the  false  coronet  braid  that  she  wore  on  top 
of  the  rat.  She  writhed.  Even  if  Mr.  Ellerslie  was 
married,  that  would  n't  help  things  much,  for  he  would 
be  sure  to  tell  his  wife.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  a  wealth  of 
brown  wavy  hair,  and  was  as  merciless  on  fine  thin 
golden  locks  as  any  woman  under  such  circumstances 
would  naturally  be.  Grace  had  heard  about  Nellie 
Ellerslie's  hair.  She  writhed  some  more.  Then  the 
cold  bed  made  her  sneeze,  and  a  heavy  voice  said  in 
somewhat  startled  accents: 

"What  the  devil's  that?" 

Her  mental  shock  may  better  be  imagined  than  de- 
scribed !  She  went  straight  out  of  her  senses  and  into 
hysterics.  She  began  to  shriek  at  the  top  of  her  voice, 
and  in  a  minute  a  great  hubbub  arose  in  the  hall,  and 


30          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Frank  Ellerslie,  for  this  man  was  Ellerslie,  having 
somehow  gotten  out  of  bed  and  into  a  heavy 
dressing-gown  of  brown  velvet  a  good  deal  too  short 
for  him,  got  the  door  open  and  allowed  his  unin- 
vited visitor  to  escape.  He  had  an  electric  light  in 
his  hand,  and  he  faced  Mrs.  Dunn  with  a  candle.  Be- 
side Mrs.  Dunn  stood  a  small  but  very  interested- 
looking  boy  and  a  large  disgusted-looking  man.  At 
the  other  end  of  the  hall  stood  another  man,  all 
dressed  except  for  his  coat. 

This  little  gathering  was  the  immediate  result 
of  Grace's  shrieks.  Everybody  looked  completely 
nonplussed  and  more  or  less  sleepy.  Grace  ran  to 
Mrs.  Dunn  and  clung  about  her  neck.  "Oh,  Cousin 
Lizzie,  Cousin  Lizzie,  I  —  'm  so  —  s-so  frightened. 
Mr  Ellerslie  came  back  to  his  room  and  did  n't 
know  I  was  there,  and  I  managed  to  slip  out  and 
get  into  their  room,  and  he  was  there,  too." 

"But  —  but  —  "  stammered  Ellerslie,  folding  the 
velvet  gown  about  him  in  a  way  that  showed  how 
painfully  conscious  of  its  shortcomings  he  was,  "I 
don't  quite  see  —  what  disturbed  you?" 

"Who's  that?"  demanded  Mrs.  Dunn,  suddenly 
perceiving  the  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  hall. 
"Why,  Will  Belden,  is  that  you?" 

The  man  without  a  coat  came  down  the  hall. 

Mrs.  Dunn  opened  the  door  behind  her  and  pushed 
Grace  in.  "Get  into  my  bed,  you  poor  child,"  she 


GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN  31 

said,  hurriedly;  "you  see,  Bob  came  on  the  late  train 
from  Hanover  —  really  I  'm  so  mixed  up  —  and 
Frank  Ellerslie  was  left  here  by  a  motor  —  I  don't 
know  whose  motor.  Just  get  into  my  bed,  and, 
Bobby,  you  run  back  to  bed,  too,  dear." 

" Where  did  you  come  from?"  Ellerslie  asked  Bel- 
den,  in  a  tart  tone.  "I  thought  you  were  staying  in 
Harzburg." 

"I  walked  over  yesterday,"  said  Belden,  with  the 
irritating  good-humor  of  the  one  fully  —  or  nearly 
fully  —  clothed  person.  "  When  I  arrived  there  was 
no  one  here,  so  I  went  for  a  stroll  in  the  woods 
and  got  lost.  I  've  been  all  of  five  hours  getting 
back." 

"  He  's  one  of  our  party,  you  know,"  Mrs.  Dunn 
said,  hastily,  looking  back  and  forth  between  them. 
"I  thought  he  was  you,  you  know,  Frank.  That  was 
so  natural,  because  I  did  n't  see  him  —  we  were  in 
Brunswick,  you  know.  And  he 's  one  of  the  party," 
she  added,  hopelessly,  noting  Nellie  Ellerslie's  hus- 
band's glare. 

"Is  he?"  said  Ellerslie,  with  the  heaviest  possible 
emphasis,  and  then  he  went  into  his  own  room  and 
slammed  the  door  in  a  way  that  shook  the  whole 
Gasthof  with  meaning. 

"Oh  dear!"  said  the  poor  little  woman,  looking 
from  Belden  to  her  husband  now,  "just  think  —  I 
thought  that  you  were  such  friends." 


32          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"You  ought  not  to  have  asked  them,"  said  Dunn. 
"I  told  you  so  in  the  beginning." 

"Never  mind  Ellerslie,"  said  Belden,  pleasantly. 
"  I  'm  the  one  to  blame.  What  shall  I  do  with  that 
poor  girl's  things?  That 's  the  first  question.  They're 
all  in  my  room,  you  know." 

"  It  is  n't  your  room,  Will,  it 's  hers,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn.  "Bobby,  you  must  run  back  to  bed.  I'll 
tell  you,  Will,  you  'd  better  just  give  up  the  room. 
It 's  her  room,  anyway ;  yours  is  here,  next  to 
Bobby's." 

"What  about  my  things  that  I  left  there,  though?" 

"They  —  they,"  Mrs.  Dunn  rubbed  her  head  a  bit; 
"why,  to  be  sure,"  she  cried  then,  "I'd  forgotten 
completely ;  those  were  n't  Frank's  things,  they  were 
yours!" 

"Of  course  they  were  mine." 

"They  've  all  been  put  in  his  room." 

"In  his  room?    Oh,  no!" 

"Yes,  they  have.  You  see  we  thought  that  they 
were  his." 

Belden  drew  in  his  breath.  "Then  they  Ve  got 
to  come  right  out  of  his  room,"  he  said.  Then  he 
lowered  his  voice.  "  I  Ve  got  letters  and  things  in 
with  my  things,"  he  said,  and  he  wasn't  smiling 
now;  he  looked  frightened.  "I  must  have  them; 
they  can't  stay  in  there  for  him  to  find  in  the 
morning." 


GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN  33 

"Oh,  must  we  disturb  him  again?"  Mrs.  Dunn 
whispered  anxiously,  looking  towards  the  Ellerslie 
door.  "Can't  you  possibly  wait?" 

Dunn  looked  more  disgusted  than  ever.  "Why 
could  n't  that  girl  lock  her  door,  anyhow?  "  he  said; 
"girls  are  always  such  fools." 

"I  've  got  to  get  my  things,"  said  Belden.  "You 
see,  I  came  over  to  explain  everything  and  tell  you 
why  I  could  n't  join  the  party." 

"Could  n't  join  the  party!  "  cried  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"But  you  're  joined  —  you're  here." 

"  Wherever  he  is,  don't  let 's  discuss  it  to-night," 
said  Dunn.  "I  want  to  get  back  to  bed.  You've 
put  the  girl  in  my  bed;  where  am  I  to  go?" 

"Oh  dear!"  cried  his  poor  wife.  "Oh  dear! 
Wait  till  I  think !  Mr.  Belden  was  to  have  had  Eleven ; 
if  he  '11  just  go  into  Eleven,  I  '11  take  Grace  back  to 
her  own  room  and  then  you  can  have  your  own  bed, 
dear." 

"But  I  must  have  my  things,"  said  Belden.  He 
came  close  to  Mrs.  Dunn  now  and  whispered:  "Just 
as  I  left,  Nellie  gave  me  a  note,  and  it 's  in  there  now 
—  in  that  knapsack." 

"  Oh,  my  goodness ! "  cried  Mrs.  Dunn,  despairingly. 
"Bob,  dear,"  she  whispered,  "Nellie  gave  him  a  note 
and  it 's  in  there  with  his  things." 

"What  a  fool  she  was ! "  said  Dunn;  but  he  looked 
sober.  "If  it  comes  to  that,  we  '11  just  have  to  bat 

3 


34          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

him  up  again,"  he  said.  "What  a  fool  you  were, 
Belden !  You  know  Frank  Ellerslie." 

Mrs.  Dunn  folded  her  wrapper  about  her  and  drew 
Belden  towards  Number  Eleven.  "Bob  will  get  your 
things,"  she  said,  "but,  please  tell  me  —  was  there 
serious  trouble?  How  dreadful !" 

"Not  exactly  serious,"  said  Belden,  unwillingly, 
"  but  you  know  how  jealous  he  's  always  willing  to  be." 

"But  is  he  jealous  of  you?" 

"Well,  you  know,  he's  always  been  jealous  of 
me." 

(They  could  hear  Dunn  hammering  on  the  Ellers- 
lie door.) 

"No,  I  didn't  know  it.  Why,  just  between  our- 
selves, it  was  Nellie  who  suggested  you  for  this  party ; 
she  said  you  were  the  one  man  that  Frank  never 
was  jealous  about." 

Belden  opened  his  eyes  widely.  "Poor  little  Nellie, 
she 's  always  trying  to  smooth  it  up ;  she  's  the  dear- 
est woman  in  the  world  —  but  —  "  He  stopped. 

"What  are  we  to  do?  "  Mrs.  Dunn  asked,  anxiously. 
"Goon,  tell  me." 

"Is  she  here  now?" 

"No,  she 's  still  at  Harzburg.  They  seem  to  have 
had  a  quarrel.  Oh,  it 's  too  terrible  to  think  that  it 
was  over  you!" 

(Dunn  was  still  battering  at  Ellerslie's  door.) 

"I  don't  know  what  to  do.    He 's  such  an  unrea- 


GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN  35 

sonable  brute.  I  just  walked  off  and  came  to  tell  you 
that  I  could  n't  come  to  stay." 

"Oh  dear,  but  you  must  stay;  you're  the  only 
single  man  I  've  got.  Nellie  ought  not  to  flirt  so." 
Mrs.  Dunn  was  thinking  that  through  this  little  idio- 
syncrasy of  her  dear  and  pretty  friend  she  would 
have  her  whole  party  thrown  out  of  gear.  "I  wish 
she  would  n't,"  she  added,  with  really  deep  feeling. 

"  She  does  n't  flirt.  She  'a  just  naturally  irre- 
sistible." 

"  Oh,  she  's  charming,  but  you  know  that  she 's  a 
terrible  flirt.  Every  one  knows  that." 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Belden,  almost  warmly. 

"Well,  we  '11  see,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  soothingly,  not 
just  meaning  what  she  said. 

(The  Ellerslie  door  was  now  open,  and  Mr.  Belden's 
belongings  were  being  ejected  in  quite  the  happy, 
placid  mood  which  usually  accompanies  ejectments.) 

As  soon  as  Ellerslie  had  closed  his  door  again  with 
a  slam  and  locked  it  with  a  wrench,  Will  Belden  and 
his  belongings  were  thrust  together  into  Number 
Eleven  and  that  door  also  closed. 

"Lock  it,"  cried  Dunn  from  the  outside,  and  the 
young  man  locked  it. 

"You  've  got  a  pretty  kettle  of  fish  on  your  hands, 
Lizzie,"  Dunn  said  to  his  wife,  as  they  went  to  their 
own  room. 

"  Oh  dear !     Oh  dear !  "  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 


36          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Then  she  had  to  rout  Grace  out  of  her  temporary 
bed. 

"  What  a  night  I  have  had ! "  the  woman  said  to  the 
girl.  "  You  've  had  some  sleep,  but,  you  see,  right 
after  I  went  to  bed  Bob  arrived ;  and  he  thought  the 
country  air  would  do  Bobby  good,  so,  if  he  has  n't 
taken  him  out  of  school  and  brought  him  here ! 
They  came  on  the  late  train,  and  just  as  they 
were  eating  their  supper  Frank  Ellerslie  arrived." 

"Where  's  Mrs.  Ellerslie?" 

"She's  still  at  Harzburg.  Isn't  it  awful  about 
them?  You  know,  they  must  have  quarreled  fright- 
fully. And  over  Will,  too." 

"Why  did  you  ask  Mr.  Belden  if  he  —  if  they  — 
Why  did  you  ask  him,  Cousin  Lizzie?"  Grace's  tone 
lacked  its  earlier  pitch  of  interest  as  to  the  "  single 
man." 

"  I  did  n't,  my  dear ;  that 's  the  worst  of  it.  She 
asked  him  and  I  must  n't  say  so." 

"How  awful !"  The  tone  was  severely  condemna- 
tory now. 

"Isn't  it  awful?"  Mrs.  Dunn  was  nothing  if  not 
acquiescent.  "But  he's  a  dear;  he'll  go  on  in  a 
day  or  two,  I  think.  He  won't  make  any  trouble. 
Only,  of  course,  when  he  goes  on  the  party  will  be 
uneven;  you'll  have  no  single  man." 

"  Oh,  that  does  n't  matter.  I  don't  mind ;  I  '11 
walk  with  Bobby."  Grace  seemed  to  feel  intuitively 


GRACE  MEETS  THE  MEN  37 

that  she  would  not  have  had  the  single  man  much, 
anyway.  "  Only  I  am  glad  he  is  n't  going  to  wake 
up  in  this  room.  He  'd  have  seen  all  my  hair." 

"Yes,  but  everybody  wears  such  lots  of  hair  these 
days."  Mrs.  Dunn  yawned  just  slightly  and  turned 
away.  "  I  'm  so  sleepy,"  she  said,  apologetically. 

"  Do  go  to  bed  right  off,"  Grace  urged.  "  I  'm 
sleepy,  too." 

"Yes,  I  will.  And  you  be  sure  you  lock  the  door 
this  time,  won't  you?" 

"  Yes,  I  will.    I  '11  get  out  of  bed  and  do  it  at  once." 

Then  Mrs.  Dunn  departed,  Grace  locked  her  door, 
and  the  night  moved  on  —  on  its  way  towards 
Australia  via  America. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS 

THE  next  morning  Dunn  woke  first,  and  woke  Mrs. 
Dunn  at  once  by  leaning  out  of  his  little  half-bed 
over  her  half-bed  and  giving  her  a  gentle  marital 
shake. 

"Wh-what  is  it,  dear?"  the  wife  asked,  writhing 
a  little  and  singularly  loath  to  open  her  eyes;  then, 
"Oh,  I'm  so  tired!" 

"What  have  you  been  doing  to  make  yourself 
tired?  I  should  think  if  there  was  one  thing  that  did 
flourish  here  it  would  be  rest." 

"Yes,  I  know,  dear;  it  is  quiet.  But  there  was 
so  much  to  see  to  before  they  all  came,  you  know." 

"Do  wake  up,  Lizzie.  I  want  to  know  how  that 
girl  got  so  mixed  up  last  night ;  I  could  n't  make  head 
or  tail  of  what  it  all  meant." 

Mrs.  Dunn  sighed.  "  Oh,  it 's  such  a  long  story. 
You  see,  we  thought  —  " 

A  brisk  tap  on  the  door. 

"  What 's  that  ?  "  said  Mr.  Dunn.    "  Hot  water  ?  " 

His  wife  sprang  out  of  bed.  "No,  Bob,  it 's  the 
postman.  Good  gracious,  can  it  be  possible  that 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  39 

we  have  slept  until  nine  o'clock  ?  He  comes  at 
nine." 

She  went  to  the  door  and  unbolted  it. 

"Margen"  said  the  smiling  postman. 

"Morgen"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"Twenty-five  Pfennigs  to  pay,"  said  the  postman, 
and  gave  her  five  letters  forthwith. 

She  brought  the  mail  back  to  the  bed  and  sorted  it. 

"  One  from  Nellie.  Oh,  she  must  be  coming  at  once, 
then." 

"There'll  be  a  pretty  row  when  she  gets  here," 
said  Dunn.  "What  did  you  ask  Belden  for?" 

"I  didn't  ask  him!  She  asked  him!  But  she 
does  n't  want  her  husband  to  know  it." 

"He  wanted  to  marry  her  once,  didn't  he?" 

"No,  he  never  tried  to  marry  her.  It  was  me  that 
he  wanted  to  marry,  years  ago,  when  we  were  all 
young.  He  never  wanted  to  marry  Nellie  till  long 
after  she  was  married." 

"I  never  knew  that  Belden  ever  wanted  to  many 
you.  Not  that  it  matters.  How  do  we  get  hot  water 
here,  anyhow?" 

"  You  ring,  dear,  —  just  one  ring  and  then  they 
bring  it.  If  they  don't,  I  light  the  alcohol  lamp. 
There,  I  forgot  to  tell  the  others  how  to  get  then" 
hot  water;  I  bought  them  all  lamps  and  alcohol.  I 
wonder  if  Bobby  is  up;  oh,  why  did  you  bring 
him?" 


40         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Are  n't  you  glad  to  see  your  own  child, 
Elizabeth?" 

"Yes,  of  course;  but  I  don't  know  what  I  can  do 
with  him  here.  There  are  no  children,  and  he  was  so 
nicely  settled  in  Hanover." 

"No,  he  wasn't  nicely  settled  at  all.  He  didn't 
want  to  stay  there.  I  asked  him." 

"But  children  never  want  to  stay  where  they  are. 
The  Ellerslies  have  no  children,  and  I  'm  afraid  they 
won't  like  our  bringing  ours." 

"I  don't  think  much  of  your  party,  Lizzie,  to  tell 
you  the  plain  truth.  Grace  Waters  is  a  nice  girl,  but, 
like  all  young  girls,  she  's  a  stick  as  far  as  brains  go, 
and  as  for  Belden  —  why  didn't  you  ever  tell  me 
about  his  proposing  to  you  before?" 

"It's  so  long  ago.  Did  you  ring  for  the  hot 
water,  dear?" 

"I  did  ring  for  the  hot  water.  How  did  you  come 
to  refuse  him,  anyhow?" 

"  He  never  really  proposed.  But  I  did  n't  want  to 
marry  him,  anyway." 

"Why  not?" 

"I  was  in  love  with  Clifford  Benson  then." 

"Oh!  How  long  does  it  take  to  get  hot  water 
here?" 

"Well,  it  takes  a  good  while,  dear;  don't  you  want 
to  go  and  see  the  view  out  of  the  window?" 

"  I  have  n't  the  faintest  desire  to  see  the  view  out 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  41 

of  the  window.  I  want  to  get  up  and  get  dressed. 
Nine  o'clock,  indeed!" 

Mrs.  Dunn  got  out  of  bed.  "I  'd  better  start  some 
water  on  the  spirit  lamp,"  she  said. 

"What  do  you  want  to  do  that  for?  The  hot 
water  must  be  coming.  Everybody  is  ringing 
now." 

This  was  quite  true.  The  whole  house  was  jingling 
—  jangling. 

"Where  do  we  get  breakfast?" 

"I  've  been  having  mine  in  my  room." 

"Well,  I  'm  not  going  to  have  mine  in  my  room,  I 
know  that." 

Mrs.  Dunn  had  been  glancing  through  her  letters. 
She  cried  out  now:  "Why,  Nellie  is  coming  to-day! 
She  's  written." 

"What  train?" 

"She  says  'by  the  first  tram.'  Let  me  see,  that 
will  be  the  one  from  Derneburg  that  gets  here  at 
seven  minutes  after  eleven." 

"Her  husband  ought  to  go  and  meet  her." 

"I  shall  go  and  meet  her  myself;  that  will  be  the 
best.  If  they  are  mad,  walking  up  that  hill  together 
will  never  make  things  smoother,  you  know." 

"  I  should  say  not.  I  don't  see  why  you  ever  came 
here.  I  never  climbed  such  a  hill  before." 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  brushing  her  hair ;  she  had  started 
a  kettle  of  water  on  the  spirit  lamp,  arranged  the 


42          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

window  shades,  picked  up  the  room,  and  gotten  on  her 
stockings  and  slippers  during  the  above  dialogue. 

"The  view  this  morning  is  beautiful,"  she  said  now. 
"  I  adore  the  plain.  That 's  the  plain  of  North  Ger- 
many, you  know;  you  can  see  fifteen  villages  from 
here;  the  Berlin  express  runs  over  there  by  Broid- 
stedt,  on  its  way  from  Hildesheim  to  Brunswick." 

"I  wish  it  ran  by  here,"  said  Dunn. 

"Yes,  the  train  here  is  pretty  slow." 

"  Slow ! "  said  Dunn.    "  Slower  than  slow." 

There  was  a  little  pause  during  which  a  jug  of  hot 
water  put  hi  an  appearance.  Mrs.  Dunn  was  now 
all  dressed. 

"I'll  go  to  Bobby,"  she  said,  "and  I  '11  order  you 
your  breakfast  down-stairs  in  the  dining-room."  She 
smiled  as  she  spoke,  and  then  she  went  out. 

In  the  hall  she  met  Will  Belden  in  a  shooting- 
jacket  and  knickerbockers. 

"Have  you  been  out  already?"  she  asked  in  sur- 
prise, as  they  exchanged  a  morning  hand-shake. 

"Of  course.  I  always  get  up  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
country.  I  've  had  a  glorious  tramp.  But  how  can 
I  apologize  sufficiently  for  last  night?  I  was  so 
sorry." 

"  You  see,  we  thought  that  you  were  Mr.  Ellerslie, 
or  rather  that  your  things  were  his." 

"Most  natural  mistake  in  the  world j  but  that  poor 
girl,  what  a  fright  I  must  have  given  her !  Terrible ! " 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  43 

"You  've  never  met  Grace  Waters,  have  you?" 

"No,  that  is,  never  until  last  night." 

Mrs.  Dunn  lowered  her  voice.  "Will,"  she  said, 
"I  want  to  speak  to  you  very  seriously,  but  there 
is  n't  time  to  do  it  properly  just  now,  because  I  must 
see  after  Bobby;  just  as  soon  as  possible  please  give 
me  a  chance." 

"Don't  you  want  to  go  to  walk  after  breakfast?" 

"No,  I  must  go  down  and  meet  Nellie." 

Belden's  face  clouded.    "Is  she  coming  to-day?" 

"Yes,  at  eleven  this  morning." 

"  Oh ! "  Belden  looked  vaguely  about  him  not  just 
seeing  what  to  do  next. 

"I  must  go  to  Bobby,"  said  the  mother,  hurriedly; 
"just  remember  and  give  me  the  chance  when  you 
can,  and  Will,"  she  looked  earnestly  into  his  face, 
"  help  me ;  I  'm  afraid  that  this  is  n't  going  to  be  an 
easy  party  to  put  through  successfully." 

"Nonsense!"  Belden's  tone  was  hearty.  "It's 
always  tough  work  getting  the  tents  up  and  the  fire 
to  burning,  but  after  that  all  is  sheer  fun;  don't 
you  worry."  He  nodded  at  her,  smiling,  and  she  was 
forced  to  smile  back.  Then  he  turned  into  his  room 
and  she  turned  into  Bobby's.  Bobby  was  stretched 
out  placidly  in  bed,  sound  asleep.  The  hill  had  af- 
fected him  in  the  best  way  that  the  hard  spots  in 
Me  can  affect  any  one. 

His  mother  woke  him  with  a  kiss. 


44         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Oh,  Mamma,  I  'm  so  glad  I  'm  here." 

"Bless  your  heart,  dear." 

"You  won't  send  me  to  school  again  ever,  will 
you?" 

"Why,  Bobby,  you  '11  have  to  go  to  school  again." 

"  But  not  while  you  're  here?  It 's  so  jolly  here. 
The  rooster  woke  me  up  ever  so  early,  and  I  wrapped 
myself  up  in  my  bedquilt  and  stayed  in  the  window 
ever  so  long.  It  was  blue,  and  yellow,  and  red,  and 
so  pretty.  All  the  air  was  blue  and  the  sun  was  mak- 
ing the  other  colors.  Have  you  seen  it  look  so, 
Mamma?" 

"Yes,  dear,"  —  suddenly  she  was  keenly  joyful 
over  the  child's  coming,  —  "and,  oh,  Bobby,  you  '11 
be  crazy  over  the  woods  here.  And  there  are  rab- 
bits, and  pheasants,  and  deer  —  " 

"Not  real  deer!" 

"Yes,  darling,  real  deer  —  the  prettiest  little 
things  that  you  ever  saw  in  all  your  life." 

And  now  Bobby  was  out  of  bed  and  dressing  him- 
self in  hot  haste.  "I  'm  so  glad  Papa  brought  me," 
he  said  ;  "oh,  my,  but  I  'm  glad  "Papa  brought 
me!" 

His  mother  brushed  his  yellow  curls  and  kissed 
him. 

"  I  'm  going  to  the  station  to  meet  Auntie  Nell 
presently,"  she  said;  "perhaps  Papa  will  take  you 
out  to  walk  while  I  'm  gone.  You  can  ask  him." 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  45 

Then  she  left  him  and  went  to  Grace.  Grace  was 
in  bed  with  her  face  buried  in  the  pillow.  "Oh, 
Cousin  Lizzie,  I  'm  so  glad  you  've  come ;  I  began  to 
think  that  you  never  would  come.  I  Ve  got  neural- 
gia ;  my  feet  are  like  ice.  They  '11  have  to  put  a 
stove  right  up  in  my  room.  I  never  ought  to  come 
to  the  country!" 

Mrs.  Dunn  quite  jumped.  "  You  poor  child !  I  '11 
run  and  get  my  hot-water  bag.  What  can  we  do? 
There  's  no  way  to  put  a  stove  up  in  this  room.  I 
never  thought  of  any  one's  wanting  a  stove." 

"  I  '11  have  to  have  a  stove,  Cousin  Lizzie ;  I  have 
to  be  warm.  You  see  I  got  so  cold  last  night  —  and 
such  a  fright  —  two  frights,  you  know?" 

"Yes,  dear.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  have  come  and 
told  you  when  Frank  Ellerslie  came,  but  he  came  so 
late  and  I  had  my  hands  so  full  with  Bob  and  Bobby, 
and  of  course  I  never  thought  of  your  trying  to  sleep 
in  that  room." 

"I  know,  Cousin  Lizzie,  but,  oh,  do  hurry  now  and 
get  me  a  hot-water  bag." 

Mrs.  Dunn  hurried  back  to  her  own  room. 

"Have  you  ordered  breakfast?"  asked  Dunn,  who 
was  shaving. 

"No,  dear,  I  've  not  had  a  second.  First  I  woke 
Bobby,  and  poor  Grace  has  got  neuralgia.  I  want 
the  hot-water  bottle  for  her." 

Dunn  stopped  shaving  and  glared  at  his  razor.    "  I 


46          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

should  think  that  she  would  have  neuralgia,"  he  said. 
"I  never  saw  such  a  place.  Are  n't  there  any  of  the 
ordinary  necessities  of  life  here?  Heat  or  food  or 
an  omnibus  or  anything?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  diving  into  her  trunk  in  a  wildly 
searching  attitude.  "  You  see,  you  were  n't  expected 
quite  so  soon,  dear;  I  hurried  all  I  could." 

Ellerslie  pounded  on  the  door.  "I  'm  going  out," 
he  cried.  "Where  's  the  telegraph  office  here?" 

"Oh,  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  very  low,  "he  's  had 
his  mail,  too;  what  do  you  suppose  she  can  have 
written  him?"  She  hastened  to  open  the  door. 
"Nellie  's  coming  at  eleven,"  she  said,  with  honeyed 
sweetness  ;  "can't  you  telegraph  on  your  way  to 
the  station?  I  'm  going  with  you  to  meet  her, 
and  we  can  walk  past  the  telegraph  office  on  our 
way." 

Ellerslie,  who  was  tall  and  military-looking  by 
daylight,  withered  the  lady  in  the  crack  with  one 
downward  scorching  glance.  "  I  'm  not  going  to 
meet  Helen,"  he  said,  with  undiluted  sarcasm.  "I 
dare  say  Belden  will  be  only  too  happy  to  accom- 
pany you.  I  asked  where  the  telegraph  office  was." 

"Oh!"  said  the  lady  in  the  crack,  with  a  gasp  of 
recognition  as  she  sensed  the  coldness  of  her  douche, 
"the  telegraph  office  is  in  the  post-office  down  in  the 
village." 

"Where's  the  village?"  asked  Ellerslie. 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  47 

"Right  down  the  road.  Any  one  will  tell  you. 
Have  you  breakfasted?" 

"  I  've  had  something.  I  would  n't  call  it  break- 
fast, but  it  was  breakfast,  I  suppose." 

"  You  're  better  off  than  I  am,"  cried  Dunn  from 
his  shaving.  "I  've  had  nothing  yet." 

"  Mamma,"  cried  Bobby,  squeezing  himself  under 
Ellerslie's  arm,  "  I  've  broken  my  shoe-lace." 

"Oh  dear!"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  expressively.  Then, 
"Come  in  here,  dear,  while  I  get  another  for  you." 

"I'll  go  and  look  for  the  telegraph  office,"  said 
Ellerslie;  "if  I  'm  not  back  for  whatever  they  have 
at  noon,  you  need  n't  wait.  I  like  to  feel  free  in  the 
country." 

He  turned  to  go  and  ran  block  into  Will  Belden 
coming  up  the  hall. 

"Hello,"  said  Belden,  cordially. 

"Hello,"  growled  Ellerslie. 

Then  the  latter  went  on  down-stairs,  and  the  former 
tapped  on  the  Dunns'  door. 

"That  '11  be  to  say  your  coffee  is  ready,  dear,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn,  who  had  just  perceived  that  the  spirit 
lamp  had  gone  out  and  was  refilling  it,  while  Bobby 
spun  his  shoe  by  what  string  there  was  left;  "do 
open  the  door." 

Dunn  opened  the  door;  of  course  he  was  disap- 
pointed when  he  saw  that  it  was  n't  to  say  that  his 
coffee  was  ready. 


48          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Good morning,"  said  Belden,  smiling.  "The  post- 
man seems  a  little  confused  as  to  his  new  patrons; 
he  left  this  letter  with  mine."  He  held  it  out. 

"Oh,  much  obliged,"  said  Dunn. 

"Have  you  got  any  black  shoe-strings?"  Mrs.  Dunn 
cried  desperately.  The  clock  was  marching  straight 
on  towards  train  time,  and  of  course  poor  Grace 
was  lying  writhing  where  she  left  her.  "Bobby  has 
broken  his,  and  I  'm  about  crazy  with  so  much  on  my 
hands." 

Just  as  she  spoke  there  came  a  bang.  The  half 
shoe-string  had  also  given  way,  and  the  spinning 
shoe  had  hit  the  jug  of  hot  water  and  upset  it. 

"Bobby!"  cried  his  mother. 

Belden  felt  terribly  sorry  for  her.  "Oh,  I  say," 
he  said,  picking  up  the  shoe  with  one  hand  and  Bobby 
with  the  other,  "  I  guess  I  've  got  some  shoe-strings  in 
my  room.  Come  with  me,  Bobby,  and  I  '11  fix  you 
out." 

They  departed,  and  the  door  shut,  leaving  Mrs. 
Dunn  equally  divided  between  gratitude  and  mop- 
ping the  floor. 

"Whatever  can  I  do?  It 's  almost  ten  o'clock,  and 
it  takes  a  half  hour  to  walk  to  the  station.  Grace  is 
ill  and  I  must  meet  Nellie." 

"Why?"  asked  her  husband,  shortly.  "Why  must 
you  meet  her?" 

"Somebody  had  got  to  meet  her  to  show  her  the 


BRIGHT  MORNING  DREAMS  49 

way  up  here.    Her  husband  won't,  and  Will  Belden 
can't  so  much  as  offer." 

Dunn  carefully  wiped  his  razor.  "  If  I  can  get  some 
coffee,  I  don't  mind  going,"  he  said,  kindly. 

His  wife  cried  out  with  joy.  "Bob!  —  you  old 
dear !  Will  you  really?  That  will  be  perfectly  heav- 
enly hi  you." 

"But  I  want  my  coffee  first." 

"  Of  course ;  I  '11  run  with  this  hot-water  bag,  and 
then  I  '11  go  straight  down-stairs  and  get  your  coffee 
myself.  Oh,  Bob,  you  are  an  angel !  I  forgive  you 
all  your  sins  now." 

Dunn  laughed. 

Mrs.  Dunn  took  the  rubber  bag  and  hastened  to 
Grace  Waters'  room.  The  poor  girl  was  writhing 
with  pain. 

"I  thought  that  you  were  never  coming  back,"  she 
wailed.  "Oh,  Cousin  Lizzie,  my  head,  my  head! 
I  must  have  a  stove  put  up !  I  '11  get  chills  and 
fever!" 

The  hot-water  bag  proved  very  soothing,  and  that 
almost  instantly. 

"  If  I  just  had  a  cup  of  tea ! "  murmured  the  invalid. 

"I  '11  go  right  and  make  it  for  you,  dear;  I  have 
all  my  tea-things,  you  know.  Do  you  want  more 
covering?" 

"No,  —  only  the  stove." 

Mrs.  Dunn  tried  to  smile,  knowing  as  she  did  that 

4 


50 

there  was  no  stove-hole  in  the  room.  "  I  '11  ask  about 
a  stove,  dear,"  she  said ;  "  I  '11  go  now  and  make  your 
tea." 

Then  she  hurried  down-stairs  to  see  about  her  hus- 
band's coffee. 


CHAPTER  V 

DUNN  MEETS  MRS.   ELLERSLIB 

DUNN  set  off  down  the  hill  in  a  right  good  spirit.  His 
wife  had  finally  succeeded  in  getting  him  his  coffee, 
rolls,  and  eggs,  and  the  change  in  his  disposition  had 
been  marked.  Like  many  other  men,  he  never 
bothered  much  what  he  said  or  did  when  hungry,  on 
account  of  the  dear  old  proverb  which  some  cross, 
hungry  man  once  promulgated  to  help  his  sex  out 
forever  after. 

But  now  he  was  fed  and  smiling,  and  hi  the  agree- 
able mood  resultant.  He  had  on  comfortable  shoes 
and  the  morning  was  good ;  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  pretty 
and  his  wife  would  n't  care ;  the  sun  shone  and  the 
road  was  all  down-hill,  —  no  wonder  he  smiled.  He 
was  very  human. 

He  tripped  on  a  stone  in  trying  to  look  at  the  view, 
so  he  did  n't  try  again  —  which  was  a  pity,  for  the  view 
was  very  beautiful.  The  road  was  fairly  steep  at 
first,  then  less  steep,  and  then  stretched  on  an  even 
incline  all  the  way  down  the  side  of  the  long,  strag- 
gling village.  The  whilom  village  wall  with  its  little 


52          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

fortress-like  openings,  blocked  now,  formed  the  street 
side  of  the  biggest  stone  stable  belonging  to  the 
Dichtenberger  Domane.  Dunn  did  not  notice  either, 
neither  did  he  observe  the  duck-pond  nor  the  dahlias 
nor  the  curtseying  children.  The  only  facts  that 
forced  themselves  upon  him  on  his  way  to  the 
station  were  the  windmill  and  the  odor  from  the 
Molkerei. 

But  he  thought  a  lot  about  Mrs.  Ellerslie. 

It  was  quite  plain  that,  Ellerslie  being  Ellerslie 
and  Belden  being  Belden,  it  would  be  Dunn  himself 
who  would  be  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  chief  mainstay  in  Dich- 
tenberg.  Any  blind  man  could  see  that  in  the  dark. 
He  pulled  down  his  vest  a  bit,  whistled  -cheerfully, 
and  stepped  with  a  more  springy  step.  After  all,  it 
was  a  beautiful  country,  and  would  do  them  all  a 
world  of  good.  Getting  off  in  this  way  from  the 
trials  and  temptations  of  the  world  was  always  a 
nice  thing  to  do.  Dunn  piped  up  loudly,  feeling  more 
and  more  cheerful  every  minute.  He  remembered 
that  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  so  pretty,  and  that  she  was 
one  of  those  women  who,  even  hi  the  country, 
always  wore  high  heels  and  all  her  rings. 

The  modest  little  station  rose  up  just  ahead,  gaz- 
ing mildly  over  its  own  accompanying  bushes.  It 
was  built  of  gray-yellow  brick,  like  most  of  the  smaller 
German  stations,  and  the  clock  in  front  was  generous 
and  gave  Dunn  ten  minutes  to  wait.  He  walked  up 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         53 

and  down  and  was  really  surprised  to  note  how 
pleasurable  his  emotions  were. 

After  the  most  liberal  ten  minutes  that  Time  had 
ever  yet  allowed  this  world,  the  exceedingly  unob- 
trusive and  deliberate  little  train  came  daintily  pick- 
ing its  way  through  the  fields.  It  stopped  at  Oster- 
linde  and  almost  decided  to  spend  the  morning 
there,  but  finally  got  under  way  again,  ran  around 
two  cabbage-patches  on  account  of  disliking  to  cut 
across,  and  came  gently  down  towards  Dichtenberg, 
where  the  station-master,  every  whit  as  imposing 
as  the  one  at  Brunswick,  held  up  his  hand  and 
stopped  it  short. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  appeared  on  the  platform  almost  at 
once.  When  she  saw  Dunn  she  was  horribly  disap- 
pointed, for  she  had  forty  million  feminine  things  to 
tell  his  wife,  but  she  smothered  that  fact  in  a  radiant 
smile  and  all  but  threw  herself  into  his  arms. 

"I'm  so  glad  to  see  you!  It's  so  curious,  I  just 
knew  that  you  would  be  the  one  to  meet  me;  you 
always  were  a  dear ! " 

Dunn  believed  it  all.  "  Ellerslie  went  out  to  walk," 
he  said,  "and  so  I  was  only  too  pleased." 

"Isn't  Mr.  Belden  here?"  she  asked,  partly  be- 
cause she  wanted  to  know  that  more  than  she  wanted 
to  know  anything  and  partly  because,  clever  as  she 
was,  she  was  very  far  from  being  altogether  clever. 

Dunn  felt  jarred,  "Oh,  yes,  he's  here,"  he  said, 


54         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

with  a  sudden  let-down  in  enthusiasm.  "My  wife 
wanted  a  single  man  hi  the  party  on  account  of  that 
girl,  you  know,  so  he's  here." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  plenty  clever  enough  to  perceive 
that  the  man  who  had  met  her  was  very  stupid  in- 
deed, so  now  had  time  to  remember  her  luggage. 

They  were  getting  it  off,  three, large  trunks  and 
a  hat-box. 

"It  looks  like  a  good  deal,"  she  said,  glancing  that 
way,  "but  I'm  not  like  dear  Lizzie.  I  never  can 
quite  bring  myself  down  to  the  real  country  level.  I 
must  have  my  bit  of  lace  around  my  throat  and  my 
blue  velvet  bed  slippers  wherever  I  go." 

Dunn  did  n't  speak  German,  so  the  luggage  had  no 
meaning  for  him.  "  Let 's  walk  on  up,"  he  suggested ; 
"they  can  get  that  stuff  up  the  hill  alone." 

"Walk  up !     Is  n't  there  an  omnibus? " 

"There  isn't  anything,  as  far  as  I  can  find  out, 
except  the  view.  Lizzie  is  crazy  over  views,  you 
know.  I'm  partial  to  hot  water,  myself." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  stopped  short;  she  was  thinking  of 
the  personal  necessities  of  her  case.  "  Is  n't  there 
any  hot  water?"  she  cried,  in  attractive  fright. 

Dunn  laughed,  took  hold  of  her  arm  (she  had  round 
arms  and  tan  elbow-gloves),  propelled  her  a  bit  on- 
ward, and  said:  "Oh,  I  drew  it  a  bit  strong;  there's 
plenty  of  hot  water." 

"I'm  so  glad.    I  use  such  a  lot.    But  do  tell  me 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         55 

now,  how  is  Lizzie ;  and  I  suppose  in  common  decency 
I  ought  to  ask  after  that  husband  of  mine.  You 
know  the  trick  he  played  me,  don't  you?" 

"No  —  I  hope  there 's  no  —  " 

"  He 's  a  beast ;  that 's  what  he  is,"  said  Mrs.  Eller- 
slie,  with  great  decision.  "No  man  with  Frank's 
temperament  ever  ought  to  marry.  Oh,  the  life  he's 
led  me  there  in  Harzburg!  I've  been  so  unhappy 
that  I'm  sure  I  never  want  to  see  another  German 
officer." 

"Were  there  German  officers  there?"  said  Dunn. 

She  saw  that  he  was  even  more  stupid  than  she  had 
supposed.  "Oh,  loads,"  she  said;  "but  tell  me,  is 
that  our  place  by  the  windmill  there?  They'll  have 
a  good  bit  of  work  getting  my  trunks  up,  won't 
they?" 

"That!"  said  Dunn.  "That  isn't  a  hotel  at  all; 
the  hotel's  up  at  the  top,  by  that  tower." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie's  eyes  flew  to  the  tower,  and  then  she 
screamed:  "'Way  up  there?  Oh,  I  never  can  walk 
that !  Will  Belden  ought  to  have  sent  a  carriage." 

Dunn  felt  utterly  disgusted.  "Oh,  it's  a  horrible 
place,"  he  said,  harshly.  "I  don't  see  how  Lizzie 
ever  came  to  think  that  we  could  stand  it.  But 
that's  Lizzie  all  over  —  she's  specially  gifted  in  get- 
ting others  into  a  hole.  I  never  was  in  favor  of  this 
plan.  Grace  Waters  is  sick  in  bed  with  a  cold.  It's 
all  a  mess." 


56          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"I  never  wanted  to  come,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie, 
moving  on  slowly.  "  I  hate  the  country." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Dunn,  heartily. 

The  warmly  expressed  mutual  hate  seemed  to 
bring  them  together  again. 

"And  I  had  the  prettiest  rooms  in  Harzburg,  I  do 
believe,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie;  "all  my  things  were 
unpacked,  too,  and  plenty  of  bureau  drawers.  If 
only  Frank  had  been  decent!"  she  sighed,  and 
walked  a  little  faster. 

"Is  he  as  bad  as  that?" 

"He  gets  worse  and  worse.  Oh,  Mr.  Dunn,"  she 
overflowed  suddenly,  "I'm  so  glad  that  you  came 
down  to  meet  me,  because  you  are  the  only  one  here 
to  whom  I  can  speak  freely.  You  see,  just  between 
ourselves,  Frank  is  horribly  jealous  of  Lizzie,  because 
he  thinks  I  tell  her  things  —  a  man  always  hates  to 
have  his  wife  tell  any  one  things,  you  know." 

Dunn  looked  sympathetic  —  and  pleased. 

"And  Grace  Waters  —  well,  she's  only  a  girl,  you 
know.  I  always  think  a  married  woman  has  no  right 
to  be  confidential  with  a  girl.  They  deserve  their 
little  dreams,  don't  they?  And,  of  course,  I  can't 
be  confidential  with  Will  here,  because  Frank 's  wild 
over  Will  Belden.  Poor  Will !  And  so  there 's  only 
you,  and  I  thank  my  lucky  stars  that  you  happen  to 
be  the  kind  of  man  that  he  just  can't  be  jealous 
of." 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         57 

Dunn  ceased  to  look  pleased  all  of  a  sudden. 

"Am  I?"  he  asked,  registering  a  vow  fiercely  as 
he  spoke,  a  vow  that  he  'd  show  her ! 

"Yes,  of  course  you  are.  There's  nothing  of  the 
fire-eater  about  you.  Not  but  what  Frank 's  very 
silly  to  mind  Will,  either.  Will 's  a  dear,  of  course, 
but  he's  such  a  Chessy-cat  with  his  good  nature,  and 
he  never  would  get  any  one  into  trouble  if  he  could 
help  it.  You  know  how  tame  that  kind  of  man 
always  is?" 

"But  you  class  me  as  the  same  sort,"  Dunn  said, 
attempting  to  speak  jokingly,  but  plainly  showing 
his  utter  dislike  of  such  classing. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  looked  quickly  up,  and  saw  her  own 
blunder.  She  smiled  at  once,  and  what  a  smile  she 
smiled !  And  then  she  brushed  her  hand  across  her 
eyes  with  a  pretty  childish  gesture,  and  then  she 
sighed  a  dear,  little,  weary,  panting  sigh. 

And  then  she  said :  "  Oh,  Mr.  Dunn,  the  very  idea, 
the  very  idea !  You  like  Will  Belden !  How  can  you 
suppose  that  any  woman  with  eyes  and  brains  could 
ever  even  dream  such  a  thing?  " 

"But  you  said  that  no  one  would  be  jealous  of 
me,"  said  Dunn,  exposing  his  sore  spot  at  once. 

"  Oh,  but  I  did  n't  mean  it  that  way,"  cried  Mrs. 
Ellerslie.  "How  could  you  suppose  that  I  ever 
meant  it  that  way?  Why,  Mr.  Dunn,  you  know 
what  you  are  and  you  know  what  you  look  like,  so 


58          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

do  please  explain  to  me  how  under  the  sun  I  could 
have  meant  it  that  way?" 

She  stopped  and  looked  up  at  him  archly.  Of 
course  he  couldn't  answer  her,  partly  because  no 
sensible  answer  could  be  devised  to  such  a  statement, 
and  partly  because  very  few  men  ever  stay  sensible 
when  a  pretty  woman  begs  them  to  do  so,  and  looks 
up  at  them  at  the  same  time. 

"Oh,  well,  of  course,  if  you  put  it  in  that  way," 
said  Dunn,  and  was  suddenly  conscious  of  how  pic- 
turesque the  windmill  was,  after  all.  "I  do  hope 
that  we  shall  see  a  lot  of  one  another.  As  you  say/' 
he  continued,  warmly,  "we  seem  sort  of  thrown  on 
one  another's  company." 

"Yes,  but  that's  very  nice,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie, 
gayly.  "Coming  along  on  the  train,  I  had  a  distinct 
sensation  that  something  delightful  was  about  to 
occur,  and  now  I  know  what  it  is." 

"What,"  said  Dunn,  beginning  to  feel  very  young 
indeed,  "what  is  it?" 

"Oh,  I  won't  tell  if  you  don't  know." 

"Yes,  tell  me." 

"'Deed  I  won't." 

"You  must  —  you  shall  —  " 

It  was  a  cruel  fate  that  brought  them  abreast  of 
the  Molkerei  breeze  just  here.  The  Mblkerei  would 
have  changed  the  trend  of  the  Council  of  Constance. 

"Gracious  heavens,  what  is  it!"    cried  Mrs.  Eller- 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         59 

slie,  fumbling  in  her  chatelaine  bag  for  a  pocket- 
handkerchief.  "Oh,  mercy  on  us,  how  can  we  ever 
go  by  here  again!" 

Dunn  wanted  to  murder  the  Molkerei.  The 
village  began  on  the  other  side,  and  it  was  neither 
practical  nor  possible  to  get  the  conversation  back 
to  where  it  had  been  broken  off.  If  people  are  talk- 
ing about  anything,  they  can  give  it  up  and  then  re- 
turn to  it  later,  but  when  they  are  being  very  serious 
indeed  over  nothing,  it  all  has  to  be  given  up  until 
there  's  a  dark  wood  or  a  new  moon  or  something  of 
that  sort. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  found  the  village  uninteresting,  and 
so  did  her  escort. 

"  It  seems  a  curious  place  for  Lizzie  to  have  picked 
out,"  she  said,  with  sincere  wonder. 

"I  never  can  see  any  sense  in  half  the  things  she 
does,"  said  her  husband,  still  more  sincerely. 

"Such  a  hill !"  panted  the  lady. 

"Can't  I  help  you?"   said  the  man. 

"No,  you  can't,  because  Frank  may  pop  out  from 
anywhere.  That's  what  vexes  me  so  with  him,  he 
does  appear  so  unexpectedly.  That's  what  caused 
all  the  row  in  Harzburg.  Frank  appeared  unex- 
pectedly three  times,  and  the  third  time  it  was  per- 
fectly impossible  to  explain  things.  It  was  one  of 
those  times  that  there 's  nothing  to  explain,  but 
you  just  can't  explain  it.  You  know?  " 


60          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Dunn  looked  wise.  "Oh,  I  know,"  he  said,  with 
deep  significance. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  looked  up  at  him.  "  I  know  that  you 
know,"  she  said.  "I'm  going  to  take  such  comfort 
telling  you  things.  I  did  have  such  a  hard  time  at 
Harzburg.  I  would  n't  breathe  it  because  I  'm  too 
proud  to  allow  myself  to  suffer  or  be  silly,  but  do  you 
know,  Mr.  Dunn,  Frank  forgot  everything  due  me, 
and  went  off  bicycling  down  to  the  Ilsenthal  with  a 
French  woman,  and  I  know  positively  that  she  has 
false  teeth!" 

"Poor  child!"  said  Dunn.  He  was  beginning  to 
feel  as  he  had  n't  felt  hi  years.  Keenly  anticipative 
and  happy. 

"I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  when  we're  out  walking. 
Is  that  the  Gtos&o/f" 

"No,  it's  further  on.    Was  she  a  widow?" 

"I  don't  know  what  she  was  except  that  she  was 
French.  She  was  so  made  up;  it  was  sickening. 
But  a  man  never  sees  all  that.  And  to  think  that 
Frank  would  be  seen  with  her!  It  made  me  blush 
for  him.  Will  was  wild." 

"Did  Will  like  her,  too?" 

"  Like  her,  too !  He  was  wild  on  my  account.  That 
was  why  he  left.  Will  Belden  is  a  gentleman  in  spite 
of  his  good  heart,  and  he  could  not  stand  seeing  me 
neglected." 

"  I  can't  imagine  you  neglected,"  said  Dunn. 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         61 

"Neglected  !  "  Mrs.  Ellerslie  quite  started.  "  I'm 
never  neglected.  I  always  have  a  lot  of  men  about 
me  even  when  I  have  n't  just  one.  I  should  like  to 
see  myself  neglected."  She  spoke  very  warmly. 

"  Oh,  no  one  could  ever  neglect  you,"  said  the  man, 
with  conviction. 


"No,  it's  further  on." 

"What  a  terrible  hill!" 

"Yes,  it's  awful.  But  fancy  what  it  was  when 
Bobby  and  I  —  " 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  halted.    "Bobby  !    Is  Bobby  here?" 

"  Y-yes.  Lizzie  did  n't  feel  easy  over  leaving  him 
in  Hanover." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  to  pause  and  swallow  some  feel- 
ing. "Children  always  run  here  and  there  so,"  she 
said,  going  on  again.  "But  he  has  a  nurse,  I 
suppose?" 

"A  nurse!    Why,  he's  twelve  years  old." 

"Really?  I  should  think  you'd  hate  to  have  him 
lose  any  time  from  his  studies.  Is  that  the  Gasthoff  " 

"It's  the  stable." 

"Oh,  then  we  must  be  nearly  there?" 

"We  are." 

In  fact  it  was  but  four  minutes  later  that  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  and  Mrs.  Dunn  found  themselves  clasped  in 
one  another's  arms. 

"Bolt  the  door,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.    "Oh,  Lizzie, 


62 

I  'm  so  glad  to  be  with  you.  I  wish  there  were  no  men 
in  all  the  wide  world;  I  do  indeed." 

"You  poor  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  hastening  to 
light  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  personal  spirit  lamp.  "I'm  so 
sorry  for  you.  But  you'll  have  a  nice  rest  here. 
There  isn't  a  chance  of  any  sort  of  complications. 
If  Will  does  n't  go,  I  promise  you  that  when  we  go 
to  walk  either  I  '11  walk  with  him  or  else  pair  him  off 
with  that  girl,  and  whenever  you  walk  with  my  hus- 
band Bobby  will  go,  too.  Then  Frank  can't  be 
jealous." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  hugged  her  friend  ecstatically.  "  You 
are  the  dearest  dear,  but,"  loosing  her,  "you  must 
not  bother  too  much.  Frank  is  ridiculous  and  he 
must  learn  his  lessons  in  life.  For  my  part,  I  consider 
myself  free  to  walk  with  any  one  I  want  to.  Be- 
tween you  and  me,  after  what  happened  at  Harz- 
burg  I  should  be  a  fool  if  I  did  n't." 

"What  happened  at  Harzburg?"  Mrs.  Dunn's 
voice  was  full  of  tender  sympathy. 

"A  wretched  little  bogus  French  princess  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort,  and  Frank  perfectly  mad  about 
her.  Dyed  hair,  my  dear ;  you  could  see  it  whenever 
she  was  in  the  sunlight,  and  a  figure  —  well,  you 
could  have  run  a  darning-needle  into  her  anywhere, 
I  know." 

"Are  n't  men  funny?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"Funny!    I  should  think  so,  indeed.     I  tried  to 


DUNN  MEETS  MRS.  ELLERSLIE         63 

bring  Frank  to  reason,  but  you  know  Frank !  Why, 
he  insisted  that  her  hair  was  that  color.  I  lost  all 
patience  with  him.  But  when  will  the  trunks  get 
up?" 

"Oh,  my  dear,  I  don't  know.  Right  after  dinner, 
maybe." 

"  Right  after  dinner !  But,  my  dear,  I  must  have 
my  things.  I'm  positively  filthy.  Look  at  me!" 

"Oh,  Nellie,  you  look  lovely,  as  you  always  do." 

"  No,  I  don't,  my  dear.  I  know  how  I  look  as  well 
as  any  one." 

"But  what  difference  does  it  make,  anyhow?" 

"  Difference !    Oh,  Lizzie,  you  're  insufferable ! " 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled.  But  then  her  smile  altered  sud- 
denly. "Goodness,  I  forgot  to  set  the  kettle  on  the 
lamp,"  she  said. 

"Yes,  so  you  did,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "Well,  dear, 
you  can  set  it  on  now.  Look  at  my  new  ring,  dear. 
Frank  got  it  for  me  in  Bozen." 

"Is  n't  it  pretty?" 

"I  think  so.  Oh,  we  had  such  an  awful  tune  in 
Bozen!  And  in  Venice!  Well,  my  dear,  just  wait 
until  I  tell  you  about  Venice !  It 's  no  wonder  I  've 
got  a  new  ring!" 

Mrs.  Dunn  looked  highly  commiserative. 

"I  knew  you'd  sympathize  with  me,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
said,  tenderly;  "I've  hardly  been  able  to  wait  to  get 
here.  I  told  Frank  all  along  that  you'd  sympathize 


64          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

with  me.  That's  what  made  him  not  want  to 
come." 

"Did  n't  he  want  to  come?" 

"Didn't  he  want  to  come!  Lizzie,  he's  furious 
over  being  here.  Don't  let  him  know  I  told  you, 
will  you,  dear?  It  would  make  it  so  uncomfortable, 
and  he'd  never  forgive  me,  for,  just  between  our- 
selves, I  promised  him  solemnly  that  if  he  would 
come  I  'd  never  let  you  know  that  he  did  n't  want 
to." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  AND  SOME  GO  OUT  TO  WALK 

"I  DON'T  much  care  about  going  out,"  said  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  playing  with  her  teaspoon  and  trying  to 
look  meaningly  at  Belden.  "I'm  so  tired." 

"I'm  going,"  said  Belden,  promptly,  at  that. 

It  was  five  o'clock  on  their  first  day,  and  the  bachelor 
now  had  a  real  reason  for  not  wanting  to  be  banished. 
He  thought  that  the  reason  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  peculiarly  sweet,  childlike  charm  of  Grace  Waters. 
He  thought  that  the  reason  concerned  Mrs.  Dunn,  and 
Mrs.  Dunn  alone.  He  and  Mrs.  Dunn  had  not  found 
time  for  that  earnestly  asked  secret  rendezvous  yet, 
but  the  day  had  been  rough  enough  to  cause  "any 
decent  fellow  to  be  darned  sorry  for  that  woman." 
Ellerslie  had  returned  from  his  walk  after  dinner  was 
all  cleared  away  and  wanted  his  hot.  Dunn  never 
liked  unsalted  butter ;  he  could  eat  it  if  he  had  to  do 
so,  but  he  did  n't  like  it.  Grace  Waters,  thanks  to 
constant  lighting  of  the  spirit  lamp  and  constant 
repetitions  of  the  hot-water  bag  and  the  teapot,  was 
recovered  enough  to  be  able  to  learn  that  she  could  n't 
have  a  stove  for  love  or  money.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  had 

5 


66          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

unpacked  that  one  of  her  trunks  which  the  donkey 
first  brought,  and  so  been  enabled  to  flutter  through 
the  hall  in  a  green  and  gold  kimono,  which  made 
Mrs.  Dunn  feel  that  her  friend  was  very  silly,  after 
all. 

"She  just  does  that  on  account  of  Will  Belden," 
she  said,  disgustedly,  to  her  husband.  She  always 
wore  a  dark  blue  outing  flannel  Mother  Hubbard 
herself  —  a  thing  that  showed  on  its  surface  that 
its  wearer  wanted  to  be  covered  and  would  rather 
not  be  met. 

Dunn  made  no  answer.  He  just  smiled.  He  knew 
what  he  knew,  but  Bobby  was  waiting  to  have  his 
pencil  sharpened,  and  conversation  had  to  wait,  too. 
Besides,  he  already  had  a  feeling  that  he  was  in  honor 
bound  not  to  agree  to  any  fault  in  Mrs.  Ellerslie. 
Particularly  not  to  agree  with  his  wife. 

And  so  now  it  was  tea-time.  The  tea  had  n't  been 
all  that  it  might  have  been,  as  Mrs.  Ellerslie  only 
drank  Orange  Pekoe  and  made  it  in  quite  another  way. 

"I  never  saw  any  one  make  tea  in  all  my  life  the 
way  you  do,  Lizzie,"  she  said,  looking  significantly  at 
Will  Belden;  "  did  you  ever,  Will?" 

Will  Belden  stared  hard  at  the  view. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  any  one  make  tea  as  Lizzie  does? 
Answer,  Will!" 

Then  he  started.  "Me?  What  is  it?  You  were 
saying?"  — 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  67 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  laughed  and  laughed.  "  I  know  what 
you  are  thinking  of,  Will,  but  there's  no  use.  Not 
to-day,  anyhow." 

Then  he  looked  vexed  and  Ellerslie  looked  mad 
and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  looked  perfectly  delighted. 

Ellerslie  never  took  tea  himself.  He  did  n't  like 
tea,  so  he  called  it  effeminate. 

"But  don't  think  of  me,"  he  said.  "I  can  get  a 
glass  of  beer  down-stairs.  I'm  easily  suited." 

"Easily  suited!"  said  his  wife.  "Did  you  say 
easily  suited,  dear?" 

"How  dead  sick  we  shall  all  get  of  that  view!  " 
Dunn  said,  hurriedly,  to  change  the  subject.  He 
did  n't  want  them  to  row  before  Bobby. 

"I  did  think  that  Harzburg  was  so  lovely,"  said 
Mrs.  Ellerslie,  meaning  to  agree  with  him,  "and  I 
had  so  many  bureau  drawers.  I  have  n't  one  bureau 
drawer  here.  Do  you  remember  the  Ilsenthal,  Frank? 
Oh,  but  you  did  n't  go  there,  did  you?  I  went  there 
with  the  Hauptmann" 

"Yes,  I  did  go  there,"  said  Frank  Ellerslie,  fero- 
ciously. "I  bicycled  the  whole  way  up  to  it  and 
walked  the  rest." 

"Oh,  I  remember,"  she  laughed.  "You  remember, 
too,  don't  you,  Will?  That  was  Frank's  charitable 
day  "  —  turning  to  Dunn,  —  "  do  you  know,  this 
husband  of  mine  made  up  his  mind  to  be  real  sweet  for 
once  in  his  life,  so  he  picked  out  the  ugliest  woman  in 


68          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

the  house  and  took  her  up  the  Ilsenthal.  Didn't 
she  look  funny  going  off  on  her  bicycle,  Will?" 

But  Will  Belden  was  stirring  his  tea. 

"Could  I  have  just  one  more  cup,  Mamma?" 
Bobby  asked. 

"Don't  say  'could  I  have,'  Bobby;  say  'if  you 
please.' " 

"But  I  do  please,  Mamma." 

Dunn  laughed.  "That's  clever,  do  you  know  it?" 
he  said  to  his  wife. 

Mrs.  Dunn  just  looked  at  her  husband.  "You've 
had  four  cups,  Bobby,"  she  said,  pouring  for  him  as 
she  spoke. 

"I  don't  see  how  the  child  can  drink  so  much  of 
such  tea,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  contemplating  him 
thoughtfully. 

"I  like  Mamma's  tea,"  said  Bobby 

Mrs.  Dunn  felt  her  heart  blood  flow  towards  her 
offspring.  She  gave  him  two  extra  lumps  of  sugar. 

"If  you'll  boil  some  water,  I  believe  I'll  go  back  to 
bed,"  said  Grace  Waters,  "I  —  I  feel  a  little  queer 
again." 

"It's  the  tea,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "No 
human  being  ever  ought  to  risk  strange  tea." 

"But  I  bought  this  myself  in  Brunswick,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn,  getting  up  to  light  the  spirit  lamp. 

"Fancy  buying  tea  in  Brunswick,"  said  Mrs.  Eller- 
slie, smiling  hard  at  Belden,  who  was  always  carefully 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  69 

not  looking  her  way.  "You  are  the  most  unsophis- 
ticated shopper,  Lizzie.  Who  would  ever  dream  of 
buying  tea  in  Brunswick ! " 

"What  you  need,"  said  Ellerslie,  sharply,  to  Grace, 
"is  to  go  to  walk.  You  need  to  get  out  in  the 
air." 

"We  all  need  that,  I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
briskly.  "Let  us  go  and  see  the  ruined  castle.  We 
can  have  a  nice  stroll  before  supper." 

"I  never  stroll,"  said  Ellerslie,  "I  walk." 

It  was  right  here  that  Mrs.  Ellerslie  made  the  re- 
mark that  opens  the  chapter.  When  Belden  capped 
it  with  the  statement  that  he  was  going,  she  looked 
harder  than  ever  at  him,  and  he  looked  harder  than 
ever  away. 

"Well,  I'll  go  with  Mr.  Belden,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
promptly.  "I'll  settle  Grace  comfortably,  and  then 
we  two  will  go  out,  anyway." 

"All  right,"  said  Belden,  cheerfully. 

"And  you'll  go,  won't  you,  dear?"  said  Mrs.  Eller- 
slie to  her  husband;  "or  will  it  make  you  too  lone- 
some for  the  Ilsenthal?" 

"I'll  stay  with  you,"  said  Ellerslie;  "perhaps,  if  we 
have  an  hour  in  the  room  alone  together,  you  can  show 
me  where  you've  put  some  of  my  things.  I'm  really 
curious  to  know." 

"Don't  you  see  how  we  need  a  valet  —  some  one 
to  travel  with  us,  Lizzie?"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  turn- 


70          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

ing  to  her  friend.  "  And  I  just  beg  and  beg  and  Frank 
won't  get  one,  and  then  he  makes  sarcastic  remarks 
about  where  I  put  his  clothes.  A  valet  would  be  such 
a  comfort.  There  was  a  perfect  dear  in  the  hotel  in 
Innsbruck,  one  of  those  men  who  would  have  been 
able  to  do  ten  thousand  little  things  for  me,  too ;  and 
I  talked  and  talked,  but  do  you  think  Frank  would 
engage  him?  Oh,  no!" 

"I  fancy  not,"  said  Ellerslie.  "I  have  a  hard 
enough  time  competing  with  the  fascinations  of  ordi- 
nary men,  but  I'd  stand  no  show  at  all  with  those 
of  a  valet." 

"Mr.  Dunn,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  her  eyes  snapping 
and  her  cheeks  flushing  angrily,  "will  you  take  me 
to  walk?  Instantly?" 

Dunn  looked  at  his  wife,  and  his  wife's  face  im- 
plored him  not  only  to  go,  but  to  go  at  once. 

"I'll  get  my  stick,"  he  said,  springing  up. 

"Run  for  your  hat,  Bobby,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
hastily.  "Papa  will  take  you,  too,  I  know." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  getting  her  hat  and  Dunn  was 
getting  his  stick,  and  neither  heard. 

Ellerslie  sat  fiercely  silent. 

"Oh,  Cousin  Lizzie,"  said  Grace  Waters,  who  felt 
that  the  atmosphere  was  strained  and  that  she  ought 
to  say  something,  "the  spirit  lamp  is  going  out." 

"Yes,  yes.  I'll  fill  it  in  a  minute,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn. 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  71 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  and  Dunn  clattered  down  the  hall 
together  at  this  minute.  Bobby  couldn't  find  his 
hat  and  came  running  back  to  say  so. 

"Never  mind,  go  as  you  are,"  exclaimed  his 
mother,  hi  agony.  "Run  quickly,  dear;  you  can 
overtake  them." 

Bobby  ran. 

Grace  Waters  rose  weakly.  "I  guess  I'll  go 
to  my  room,"  she  said.  "You'll  bring  me  the  hot- 
water  bag  when  the  kettle  boils,  won't  you,  Cousin 
Lizzie?" 

She  went  out. 

Ellerslie  rose.  "I'm  going  down-stairs  to  get  a 
glass  of  beer,"  he  said,  and  left  the  room. 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  refilling  the  spirit  lamp. 

Belden  sat  still  by  the  tea-table. 

"What  a  beast  that  man  is!"  he  said,  quietly, 
after  a  while.  "What  are  we  going  to  do  about 
him?" 

"But  she's  such  a  little  fool,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said. 
"Why  does  she  say  those  things?" 

"Why  does  he  say  those  things,  you  mean." 

"No,  I  don't.  She  says  things  all  the  time  with 
the  deliberate  intention  of  making  him  wild." 

"Is  n't  the  same  spirit  in  his  remarks?" 

Just  here  the  lamp  overflowed. 

"Oh  dear!"  Mrs.  Dunn  sopped  up  the  alcohol 
with  her  handkerchief.  "It's  all  a  mess,"  she  added 


72          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

desperately,  not  making  it  clear  whether  she  meant 
the  overflow  or  her  friend's  marital  situation. 

"Yes,  it's  a  mess,"  admitted  Belden,  referring 
wholly  and  entirely  to  the  Ellerslies,  "but  do  you 
know  it's  darned  funny,  too?" 

"Funny!"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  looking  all  about  for 
matches.  "I  don't  see  anything  funny  in  it." 

"It's  so  funny  to  me  that  I  hate  to  go  away  and 
leave  the  circus,"  said  Belden;  "do  you  think  it  will 
really  hurt  if  I  stay?" 

"Oh,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  distressedly.  "I  don't  see 
how  you  can  stay.  It  will  make  everything  so  un- 
comfortable. You  know  what  you  said  after  dinner; 
you  said  that  you  felt  in  honor  bound  to  go." 

"But  he  had  n't  come  back  from  his  walk  then,  and 
she  was  so  worried.  I  thought  perhaps  he  was  mad 
about  me." 

"No,  it  was  n't  that,  but  —  " 

"You're  forgetting  to  light  that  lamp,"  said  Belden. 

"So  I  am.  Oh  dear!  I'm  just  so  bothered; 
you  see  —  just  between  ourselves  —  I  do  wish  that 
I  had  never  asked  them.  They're  no  kind  of  people 
for  this  sort  of  party." 

"I  know,"  said  Belden,  "but  all  the  same  they're 
such  fun  to  watch.  Please  let  me  stay.  Please  let 
me!" 

Mrs.  Dunn  began  to  pick  up  the  tea-things.  He 
sprang  to  help  her. 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  73 

"I'll  pick  up  tea-things,  make  beds,  do  what- 
ever you  say.  And  I'll  be  innocuous.  I'll  always 
walk  with  Bobby." 

"  I  wish  you  'd  let  me  pick  up  the  tea-things ;  men 
make  such  a  mess  of  the  little  dabs  of  butter.  And 
you  can't  walk  with  Bobby.  Nellie  wants  him  with 
her  always." 

"Did  she  say  so?" 

"  Yes,  so  Frank  won't  be  jealous." 

Belden  laughed.  "Bobby  won't  keep  him  from 
being  jealous,"  he  said.  "He's  just  naturally  dyed- 
in-the-wool  jealous.  I  was  n't  to  blame  there  at 
Harzburg ;  honestly  I  was  n't  a  bit  to  blame.  I 
did  n't  know  they  were  there  until  I  got  there." 

Mrs.  Dunn  didn't  believe  that,  but  she  didn't 
say  so.  "I  don't  think  it's  nice  for  married  women 
to  flirt,"  she  said,  thoughtfully. 

Belden  gave  her  a  sweeping  glance  and  smiled  a 
man-smile  over  the  transparency  of  womankind. 

"It  was  really  Nellie  who  went  to  pieces  in  Harz- 
burg," he  said,  after  a  minute.  "She  was  awfully 
mad  over  a  French  woman." 

"Did  you  see  the  French  woman?" 

"Yes.  She  was  n't  my  style,  but  she  was 
pretty." 

Mrs.  Dunn  paused  in  her  labors.  "Will,"  she  said, 
solemnly,  "just  between  ourselves,  did  she  dye  her 
hair?" 


74:          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"No,  she  didn't  dye  her  hair.  She  wasn't  over 
twenty-five." 

"  Oh,  Nellie  gave  me  the  impression  that  shewas  old! " 

"Why,  she  was  a  bride." 

"A  bride!    Did  she  have  a  husband?" 

"Of  course  she  had  a  husband,  and  he  went  up  the 
Ilsenthal  with  them.  That's  what  made  Nellie  look 
so  foolish." 

"My  goodness,  didn't  the  woman  go  alone  with 
Frank?" 

"Alone!    Why,  there  were  fifteen  hi  the  party." 

"Did  you  go?" 

"No,  I  couldn't  go;  I  hadn't  any  bicycle.  You 
know,  there 's  a  good  ways  to  go  before  you  get  to  the 
Thai?  They  bicycled  that." 

"Well,  I  declare!" 

Just  here  Ellerslie  opened  the  door  without  knock- 
ing. "Oh,  excuse  me,"  he  said,  apologizing,  "I 
thought  you'd  all  gone  out." 

He  smiled  as  he  spoke,  —  one  of  those  smiles  that 
would  make  a  great-grandmother  uncomfortable  over 
being  caught  sitting  alone  with  anybody  else's  great- 
grandfather. 

"We're  just  going,"  said  Belden,  rising  at  once. 
"Won't  you  come  with  us?" 

"No,  thanks,"  said  Ellerslie,  continuing  to  smile. 
"I  don't  care  to  play  third  fiddle  any  more  than  my 
marriage  vows  compel." 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  75 

"I'll  stay  and  you  go  with  Mrs.  Dunn,"  said  Belden. 
He  was  far  from  being  proof  against  the  smile. 

"No,  I'll  stay  with  Grace,  and  you  two  —  "  began 
Mrs.  Dunn,  but  there  she  suddenly  remembered  what 
two  they  were,  and  the  words  died  on  her  lips. 

"If  nobody  can  ever  do  what  they  please  here," 
said  Ellerslie,  ceasing  to  smile  and  beginning  to  look 
angry,  "we  might  as  well  all  leave  at  once.  I  don't 
want  to  do  anything  unless  I  want  to  do  it,  I  know 
that." 

"What  do  you  want  to  do?"  asked  Mrs.  Dunn. 
She  was  now  beginning  to  fill  the  hot-water  bag. 

"I  want  to  stay  and  read." 

"Come  on,"  said  Belden  to  the  lady,  deciding  to 
ignore  Ellerslie's  smile  and  flee  from  his  temper 
at  any  cost,  "we'll  have  an  hour  before  supper. 
Come  on." 

"I'll  just  run  with  this  to  Grace,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said. 

"And  I'll  get  my  stick,"  said  Belden,  interrupting 
her  because  he  didn't  want  to  be  left  in  the  room 
with  Ellerslie.  Of  course  his  retreat  left  Mrs.  Dunn 
alone  with  Ellerslie. 

"Is  he  going  to  stay  the  whole  fortnight?"  the 
husband  demanded  forthwith.  "I  want  to  know." 

Mrs.  Dunn  stood  helpless  and  stricken,  the  hot- 
water  bag  hanging  its  head  hi  her  hand. 

"Understand,  I'm  not  jealous,"  said  Ellerslie, 
ferociously.  "Nellie  always  likes  to  gjve  it  out  that 


76         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

I'm  jealous,  but,  between  ourselves,  I'm  about  the 
least  jealous  man  alive.  Nellie  knows  why  I  can't 
abide  Belden,  and  as  long  as  we're  all  here  together 
I  don't  mind  being  frank  and  telling  you  right  in  the 
start  what  I  can't  stand  in  the  man.  It's  his 
borrowing." 

"  His  borrowing ! "   said  Mrs.  Dunn,  dumbfounded. 

"His  borrowing,"  repeated  Ellerslie.  "Of  course, 
I  can't  lock  my  room  on  account  of  Nellie,  and  I 
have  my  own  opinion  of  a  man  who  does  n't  own  a 
clothes-brush  or  mind  getting  collars,  cravats,  or  any- 
thing else  from  a  friend,  without  so  much  as  by  your 
leave.  You  can't  tour  Europe  with  a  knapsack  and 
not  lay  in  fresh  supplies  somehow,  and  —  why,  the 
man's  got  on  one  of  my  undershirts  this  very  minute." 
He  wound  up  in  a  wide  burst  of  wrath. 

"Oh  dear!"  said  Mrs.  Dunn;  she  had  always 
known  Belden  to  be  a  happy-go-lucky  sort  of  mortal, 
but  she  had  never  guessed  this  of  him. 

"I  hear  him  coming  back  now,"  said  Ellerslie, 
turning  towards  the  window.  "Well,  all  I  can  say 
is,  that  night  that  all  his  things  were  pitched  into 
my  room  I  was  glad  to  see  my  razor  again,  that's 
all." 

Mrs.  Dunn,  stricken  quite  dumb  and  thoughtful 
by  this  new  and  unexpected  light  shed  over  the  ins 
and  outs  of  her  party,  went  out  into  the  hall  and 
carried  the  hot-water  bag  in  to  Grace. 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  77 

"Oh,  Cousin  Lizzie,  it's  so  nice  to  have  my  own 
nightgown.  That  one  of  yours  had  a  seam  right 
down  the  inside  of  the  middle  of  the  back.  Has  Mr. 
Belden  gone  out  without  you?" 

"No,  he's  waiting.  I'm  sorry  about  the  gown; 
you  see,  it  was  the  only  clean  one  that  I  had  with  a 
high  neck." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  now?" 

"I'm  going  out  to  walk." 

"Oh,  yes,  —  is  he  nice?    He  seems  nice." 

"  I  don't  know.  I  've  never  seen  much  of  him  since 
I  was  a  young  lady." 

"Is  he  as  old  as  that?  I  thought  he  was  just  a 
young  man." 

"  Why,  he  is  a  young  man,  as  men  go.  Let  me  see, 
he  must  be  about  thirty." 

"He 's  younger  than  you  are." 

"Yes,  indeed,  two  or  three  years,  or  even  more." 

"How  old  is  Mrs.  Ellerslie?" 

"  She 's  —  let  me  see  —  she 's  lots  younger  than  I 
am;  oh,  she's  about  twenty-nine." 

"  Her  husband  is  n't  nice  to  her,  is  he,  Cousin 
Lizzie?  I  thought  it  was  so  natural  her  wanting  a 
valet,  and  he  was  so  disagreeable  about  it." 

"He  is  disagreeable,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  thinking 
uneasily  of  the  waiting  Belden. 

"This  hot-water  bag  is  such  a  comfort.  I  believe 
I'll  keep  it  in  my  room  while  I'm  here.  It'll  be  so 


78          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

nice  cold  nights,  even  when  I  have  n't  neuralgia.  I 
must  get  me  one,  sometime." 

"I  always  have  one  with  me/'  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"I  don't  see  how  you  can  ever  keep  track  of  so 
many  things.  I  never  could  do  it.  I  'd  far  rather  go 
without  the  things." 

Mrs.  Dunn  edged  towards  the  door.  "I'll  come  in 
and  see  you  as  soon  as  I  come  back,"  she  said 

"Thank  you,  dear  Cousin  Lizzie.  I'm  very  glad 
to  be  here,  even  if  everything  is  so  uncomfortable. 
You  see,  I  realize  that  it  is  n't  your  fault  —  any 
of  it." 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled  faintly.  "That's  sweet  of  you, 
dear;  good-bye." 

"Good-bye." 

Then  she  got  away,  closed  the  door  carefully,  and 
found  Belden  sitting  on  the  trunk  to  the  left  of  her 
door. 

"Locked,  I  see,"  he  said,  tapping  it  significantly 
with  his  cane  as  he  got  up,  and  smiling. 

"I  always  lock  trunks  that  stand  in  public  halls," 
she  said,  as  they  went  towards  the  stairs. 

"Even  when  the  Ellerslies  don't  have  the  room 
opposite?"  asked  Belden. 

She  felt  this  to  be  unworthy  of  him,  considering  his 
undershirt.  "  I  don't  know  about  the  Ellerslies,"  she 
said,  "but  I  despise  borrowing." 

"So  do  I,"  declared  Belden,  heartily.    (They  were 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  79 

in  the  lower  hall  now.)  " That's  one  reason  why  I 
dislike  Frank  Ellerslie  so." 

Mrs.  Dunn  felt  feeble.  "Does  he  borrow?"  she 
asked. 

"Does  he  borrow!"  said  Belden.  "Why,  he's 
got  on  one  of  my  undershirts  right  now.  Took  it  out 
of  my  knapsack  that  night  when  my  things  were 
pitched  into  his  room.  That  was  one  reason  why  I 
walked  out  of  Harzburg;  I  wanted  to  hang  on  to  a 
few  American  luxuries." 

"Oh  dear!"  cried  Mrs.  Dunn. 

They  were  crossing  the  court  and  climbing  out  into 
the  road. 

"I'm  a  brute  to  go  finding  fault  with  anything, 
when  you've  got  so  much  to  bother  you,"  Belden 
declared,  a  sudden  remorse  flooding  him  at  the  sound 
of  her  voice,  "and  it's  so  pretty  here,  too.  Just  to 
look  at  those  trees  ought  to  make  humans  ashamed  of 
themselves.  What  does  it  matter  who  wears  who's 
undershirt,  after  all ! " 

"Yes  —  I  mean  —  no,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  faintly. 
She  was  wondering  if  any  one  ever  told  the  truth, 
and  also  what  man  had  on  what  undershirt. 

"Which  way  shall  we  go?"  asked  Belden. 

"Oh,  I  don't  care."    She  spoke  truthfully,  anyhow. 

"I  suppose  we  shall  soon  learn  every  road  hi  the 
neighborhood.  Of  course,  I  only  know  one  now.  I 
got  lost  trying  the  second  one,  you  know." 


80          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"What  one  do  you  know?" 

"The  one  from  Schloss  Oelber." 

"You  walked  that,  did  n't  you?" 

"I  walked  from  Goslar." 

"Did  you  like  Goslar?" 

"As  well  as  I  could  like  any  place  that  I  struck  in 
such  a  temper.  I  don't  often  get  mad,  but  I  was 
awfully  mad  that  day." 

"  Over  the  undershirt? " 

"  He  did  n't  have  the  undershirt  then ;  he  only  took 
that  last  night.  He  had  my  razor,  though.  I  have 
my  opinion  of  a  man  who'll  use  another  man's  razor. 
But  I  did  n't  mind  any  of  that  so  much.  I  was  mad 
then  over  Nellie." 

"What  had  she  done?" 

"  Oh,  she  just  makes  me  mad." 

"Don't  you  really  like  her?  Just  between  our- 
selves?" 

"Of  course  I  like  her,  I've  always  liked  her.  But 
she's  so  ready  to  let  a  man  in  for  a  row,  and  I  hate 
rows.  I  never  play  the  idiot  with  married  women." 

"  But  you  —  but  you  —  pay  her  attention." 

"But  I  don't  want  to  pay  her  attention!  I've 
always  gotten  on  so  nicely  with  them,  I  was  the  one 
man  that  always  had  managed  to  get  on  with  them 
both.  Until  Harzburg." 

"What  did  happen  at  Harzburg?" 

"I  don't  know  myself.    Between  ourselves  no  one 


81 

can  ever  tell  just  what  is  the  truth  of  what  Nellie 
says  about  any  one,  you  know." 

"But  tell  me  all  you  can.  You  see,  all  I  know  is 
that  she  suggested  you  for  this  party,  and  said  her 
husband  would  love  to  be  in  the  country  with  you,  as 
you  were  such  friends;  and  then,  after  everything 
was  arranged,  she  wrote  me  to  never  let  Frank  know 
that  she  had  asked  me  to  ask  you.  I  have  n't  had  a 
chance  to  get  her  side  of  it  yet,  but  I  'd  like  to  know 
yours." 

"I  haven't  any  side.  I'm  just  the  victim.  And, 
confidentially,  I  don't  even  know  that  I'm  that." 

They  had  turned  into  a  wood's  road,  and  the  placid, 
majestic  stillness  of  the  forest  reigned  about  them. 
There  was  something  of  the  impassive  standpoint  of 
the  Sphinx  in  the  way  that  the  great  elms  locked 
branches  over  the  inquisition  into  the  pros  and  cons 
of  the  Harzburg  imbroglio. 

"It's  so  beautiful  here,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  "I  do 
love  the  woods.  They  impress  one  so.  And,  oh, 
Will,  when  you  see  the  castle!  Don't  you  want  to 
go  up  there  now?" 

"No,  not  now.    I'd  rather  just  walk." 

"We'll  walk  then.  Well,  go  on  with  your 
story." 

"See  the  light  coming  through  the  trees  there," 
said  Belden,  pointing.  "I  suppose  that's  the  west, 
isn't  it?  And  so,  you  see,  I  came  to  Harzburg 

6 


82          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

because  Nellie  wrote  that  Frank  was  going  off  on  a 
fuss-tour,  and  that  it  would  help  her  lots  if  I'd 
help  her  to  get  down  here  with  her  trunks." 

"But  he  didn't  go,  did  he?  Oh,  look  at  those 
mushrooms !  I  wonder  if  they  are  poisonous !  Well, 
and  then—?" 

"No,  he  didn't  go;  he  made  the  bicycle  trip 
instead." 

"Was  everything  pleasant  up  to  then?  I'm  so 
interested ! " 

"  Pleasant !  Why,  he  was  in  and  out  of  my  room 
all  day,  taking  things.  I  could  n't  hang  onto  so 
much  as  a  match." 

"Did  I  lock  my  door  when  I  came  out?"  Mrs. 
Dunn  asked,  suddenly. 

"No,  we  left  Ellerslie  hi  there,  you  know." 

"Oh,  yes,  so  we  did."  For  a  minute  she  looked 
very  unhappy. 

"By  George,  this  would  be  a  lovely  walk  to  take 
with  a  girl,"  said  Belden,  looking  around. 

"I  wonder  if  Grace  is  much  of  a  walker,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn.  "Oh,  there's  a  rabbit !  Well,  go  on." 

"Where  was  I?  Oh,  yes,  that  day  that  Frank  ran 
off  with  the  French  bride." 

"I  want  to  know  all  about  her.  Did  she  have 
false  teeth?  Nellie  says  so.  Did  you  say  her  husband 
went,  too?" 

"  His  bicycle  broke,  and  he  came  home  early.    I  've 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  83 

wondered  sometimes  if  that  was  n't  where  the  trouble 
came  in.  You  see,  between  ourselves,  Nellie  and  I 
did  go  out  walking,  and  you  know  how  tired  out  she 
gets  walking,  and,  well,  that  Frenchman  left  his 
bicycle  or  sent  it  by  a  boy  or  I  don't  know  what; 
anyway,  he  came  right  out  of  the  woods  behind 
us." 

"Oh,  Will!    Oh!" 

"It  was  deuced  unfortunate.  Of  course  he  must 
have  said  something  about  it  afterwards  to  Frank. 
A  Frenchman  always  says  something.  They're  so 
spiteful.  And  he  was  mad  about  his  own  wife,  too, 
of  course.  Oh,  these  woods  are  pretty,  I  must  say." 

"I  knew  you'd  love  them.  Poor  Nellie!  So  then 
her  trouble  began ! " 

"Yes,  that  very  night.  I  left  the  next  morning. 
Frank  returned  my  slippers.  I  don't  know  why, 
I  'm  sure,  for  he  did  n't  return  anything  else,  and  — 
don't  mention  this  even  to  your  husband  —  I  found 
a  note  she'd  managed  to  stuff  in  one  toe  without  his 
knowing." 

"Perhaps  she  got  him  to  return  the  slippers  just 
so  she  could  send  you  the  note !"  Mrs.  Dunn  looked 
all-wise. 

"  Perhaps ;  but  it  was  the  greatest  luck  —  chance, 
I  mean  —  that  I  ever  found  it.  That  was  the  note  I 
had  in  my  knapsack." 

"Why  do  men  deliberately  keep  such  things?" 


84          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"They  don't  deliberately  keep  them.  They  for- 
get they've  got  them." 

"Well,  and  then?    Oh,  there's  another  rabbit !" 

"So  then  I  left.  I  couldn't  do  anything  else, 
you  see.  And  that 's  all  I  know." 

"Oh  dear!"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  with  deep  feeling. 
"It's  awful  —  just  awful.  But  you'll  have  to  go; 
that's  plain." 

They  walked  on  without  saying  more  for  quite  a 
while. 

"But  I  don't  want  to  go,"  Belden  burst  forth  then. 
"I  want  to  stay.  I'll  promise  to  always  walk  with 
you,  if  you'll  only  let  me  stay." 

Mrs.  Dunn  took  no  offense.  "I  don't  want  to 
make  any  more  trouble  between  them,"  was  all  that 
she  said. 

They  turned  just  here,  and  as  they  turned  they  saw 
Dunn,  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  and  Bobby  approaching.  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  was  talking  with  great  animation,  and  Bobby 
had  his  face  upturned  and  Dunn  had  his  down- 
turned,  with  deep  interest. 

"They  look  happy,"  commented  Belden. 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  well  pleased.  "Perhaps 
it  will  all  work  out  right,"  she  added,  hopefully. 

Just  then  Bobby  saw  his  mother  and  rushed  to  her. 

"Oh,  Mamma,  I  did  n't  see  you  a  bit  till  just  now. 
Could  you  see  us  long?  Mrs.  Ellerslie  said  she 
wondered." 


THEY  ALL  TAKE  TEA  85 

"No,  dear,  we  just  came  around  the  bend.  Did 
you  have  a  nice  walk?" 

"Yes,  awful  nice.  Only  I'm  tired.  Papa  had  me 
for  his  dog,  and  I  had  to  play  smell  birds  'way,  'way, 
far  off  in  the  fields." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   INS   AND   THE   OUTS 

"I  DON'T  know  what  to  do  now,"  Mrs.  Dunn  was 
saying  to  Belden.  "Of  course,  if  he  has  a  wagon, 
Bobby  will  want  to  go  off  to  drive,  and  you  know 
how  donkeys  run  away?" 

"No,  I  don't,"  said  Belden,  who  had  not  only  stayed 
on  in  the  party  but  had  managed  his  affairs  so 
well  that  he  was  waiting  for  Grace  to  go  to  walk 
with  him  now.  "I've  always  heard  of  donkeys  as 
having  the  name  of  being  slow." 

"I'm  sure  I  hope  that  this  one  is  slow  like  the  rest, 
then.  Oh  dear,  I  do  wish  Bob  would  consult  me  about 
things.  I  didn't  mind  his  going  off  to  Hildesheim 
that  way  with  Mrs.  Ellerslie  —  although  it  was  a 
nasty  trick,  was  n't  it?  But  for  him  to  go  and  buy 
a  second-hand  donkey-wagon  for  Bobby!  I  don't 
want  Bobby  in  a  donkey-wagon,  anyway.  I  want 
him  to  run  and  get  strong,  but  Bob  never  consults 
me." 

"  Nellie  got  herself  into  a  bad  fix  with  that  day  in 
Hildesheim,"  said  Belden.  "Just  between  ourselves, 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  87 

I  don't  think  they  ought  to  have  done  it.  I  would  n't 
care  to  have  my  wife  run  off  like  that,  I  swear  I 
would  n't." 

"Well,  I  think  myself  that  they  should  have  said 
something,  but  of  course  if  they  'd  said  anything 
Frank  would  never  have  let  Nellie  go.  He's  that 
sort,  and  she  knew  it  perfectly  well.  I  did  n't  mind 
Bob's  going,  for  it  gave  me  a  whole  morning  to 
straighten  out  our  things.  Oh  dear,  I  do  wish  that 
Nellie  and  he  would  n't  come  in  and  get  my  things 
in  that  way !  They  are  so  free  and  easy." 

"Nellie  says  Frank  took  that  morning  to  muss  up 
all  theirs." 

"  Oh,  he  was  furious;  he  banged  about  awfully.  I 
don't  know  what  I  would  do  if  Bob  ever  acted  so." 

"What  are  you  looking  for?" 

"I  want  to  fill  the  spirit  lamp,  and  I  believe  they 
must  have  come  in  and  taken  the  alcohol." 

Belden  looked  painfully  unconcerned  as  to  what 
the  Ellerslies  took  from  the  Dunns.  "But  he's  got 
my  pocket-knife,"  he  said  suddenly.  "Where  is  he, 
anyway?" 

"He's  out  walking.  The  way  he  goes  thrashing 
over  the  landscape  when  he's  mad  is  awful.  I  never 
saw  a  man  walk  so  fast.  Nellie  says  if  she  takes  a 
walk  with  him  it  lays  her  out  for  two  days.  Perhaps 
he  knows  that." 

"Well,  if  he  does,  I  should  think  he'd  take  her  out 


88          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

to  walk  oftener.  What  sort  of  people  are  the  Waters, 
anyhow?" 

" The  Waters?  The  Waters?  Oh,  you  mean  Grace's 
family.  Why,  they're  real  nice  people;  she  only 
has  her  parents,  and  her  father  died  ever  so  long 
ago.  Just  between  ourselves,  Will,  I  do  wish  Nellie 
would  let  you  marry  that  girl;  she's  such  a  nice 
girl!" 

"How  can  Nellie  block  the  game?" 

"It's  impossible  to  explain  to  a  man;  but  she 
just  says  little  things  all  the  time  as  if  you  belonged 
to  her,  body  and  soul.  And,  of  course,  they  impress 
a  girl." 

"  But  whenever  she 's  talking  of  any  man  she  says 
things  like  that." 

"  Yes,  of  course.  But  they  seem  less  pointed  when 
the  man  is  n't  here." 

Belden  became  suddenly  serious,  laid  his  stick  and 
hat  on  a  chair,  and  came  out  and  sat  down  opposite 
Mrs.  Dunn.  "But  how  under  the  sun  can  I  help  her 
saying  anything  that  she  pleases?"  he  asked,  earn- 
estly. "You  know  that's  the  difficulty  with  Nellie; 
she  can  say  whatever  she  pleases,  and  she  looks  so 
darned  pretty  saying  it  that  everybody  supposes  that 
she's  telling  the  truth." 

"I  don't  know  when  she's  telling  the  truth,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn,  frankly.  "She  said  yesterday  that  you 
were  very  disagreeable  in  Harzburg  when  Frank 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  89 

wanted  your  razor;  she  said  she  would  say  this  for 
Frank,  he  might  be  mean  in  small  ways,  but  he  was 
certainly  generous  in  big  things;  she  said  he  might 
break  her  heart  and  ruin  her  life,  but  he'd  never 
refuse  a  razor  to  a  friend." 

"Why,  he  took  the  razor  and  he's  got  it  now," 
cried  Belden,  hotly.  "I  bought  myself  another  hi 
Goslar  —  a  mighty  poor  one  it  is,  too." 

"I  quite  believe  you,"  soothed  Mrs.  Dunn.  "Oh 
dear,  I  don't  know  what  I  am  going  to  do  about 
either  of  them.  I  can't  lock  my  door  without  having 
it  look  pointed,  and  they  go  in  and  get  things  from 
morning  till  night.  I'm  about  crazy.  Nellie  took 
my  hairpins  and  the  tea-strainer  this  morning." 

"Where  is  she  just  at  present?" 

"Out  walking  with  Bob." 

"Borrowed  him  now,  has  she?" 

"Oh,  I  don't  mind  Bob,  but  it's  awful  about  the 
hairpins  and  the  tea-strainer.  I  miss  them  so.  I 
need  them." 

"  I  would  n't  mind  anything  if  she  'd  quit  lugging 
me  into  all  she  says.  I  would  n't  mind  that  so  much, 
for  you  all  know  Nellie,  but  when  she  sends  me  up- 
stairs to  get  her  veil,  I  get  mad  over  what  Miss  Waters 
must  think." 

"Well,  you  know  I  thought  you'd  better  not  stay." 

A  light  step  sounded  in  the  hall  without. 

"I  take  it  all  back,"  cried  Belden,  hastily.    "I'll 


90          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

take  anything  or  everything  back,  only  I  must  be 
allowed  to  stay." 

Mrs.  Dunn  laughed,  and  just  then  Grace  opened 
the  door. 

"Was  I  long?"  she  asked,  smiling. 

"Not  a  bit,"  said  Belden,  leaping  for  his  hat  and 
stick;  " and  now  where  shall  we  go?  " 

"  Do  go  and  dig  on  the  Schloss,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"I'm  so  wild  to  get  that  piece  dug  out,  and  no  one 
seems  to  take  the  slightest  interest." 

"There  are  so  many  roots,"  said  Belden.  "I  dug 
there  yesterday  for  a  while,  but  I  can't  get  up  any 
enthusiasm.  I  don't  believe  that  Barbarossa  stayed 
on  that  side  much."  He  moved  door- wards. 

"I'll  go  and  dig  there  to-morrow,  I  promise  you, 
Cousin  Lizzie,"  Grace  said,  sweetly.  Then  they  went 
out. 

"Do  you  suppose  she  really  and  truly  does  want 
us  to  go  and  dig  in  that  hole?"  Belden  asked  in  a 
pleasantly  confidential  tone,  as  they  went  down- 
stairs. "What  difference  can  it  make?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Grace,  meeting  the  tone 
half-way.  "I  don't  care  a  bit  about  old  castles 
myself.  You  always  catch  your  feet  in  the  weeds." 

"  Lizzie  seems  to  get  such  a  lot  of  fun  out  of  the 
game,  somehow,"  said  Belden,  thoughtfully.  "I  was 
up  there  yesterday  just  before  dinner  —  tried  to  pry 
up  that  wooden  cover  in  the  tower  out  in  front." 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  91 

"Did  you  pry  it  up?    What's  inside?" 

"  I  could  n't  get  it  open.  Did  n't  try  very  hard. 
It  was  almost  dinner-tune,  you  know.  I  looked 
through  the  crack  into  the  stone  room  below. 
Lizzie  says  that's  the  place  where  they  found  the 
skeletons." 

" How  nice !    How  many  were  there? " 

"Fifteen.  In  chains,  too.  They've  got  the  bones 
in  a  basket  somewhere  up  there,  she  says.  I'll  take 
you  to  see  them  any  day." 

"What  fun !  I  begin  to  feel  quite  interested  in  the 
Schloss,  after  all." 

"But  you  don't  want  to  walk  that  way  now,  do 
you?  The  woods  are  so  lovely." 

"Oh,  no,  not  now.  Let's  walk  in  that  sunny  way 
down  by  the  blackberries." 

"  I  think  that 's  where  the  others  are." 

"Oh  don't  let's  go  there,  then.  They  won't  want 
us." 

"They're  so  silly,"  said  Belden,  in  comfortable 
contempt. 

"Mrs.  Ellerslie  's  very  silly,  is  n't  she?"  said  Grace. 
"Do  you  think  she's  pretty?  Some  people  do.  She, 
for  one." 

"No,  I  don't  think  she's  pretty." 

"I  thought  men  all  admired  that  sort  of  women." 

"I  don't,  anyway." 

The  girl  walked  a  bit  nearer  him,  and  he  promptly 


92          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

walked  a  bit  nearer  her.  "  But  you  admire  her,  don't 
you?  "  she  asked,  earnestly. 

"No,  I  don't." 

"But  you  did  once?" 

"  I  never  did.  I  don't  know  where  she  ever  got  the 
idea." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Belden,  you  don't  mean  —  you  can't 
mean  that  she  —  that  she  is  the  one  that  —  that  —  " 

"Well,"  said  Belden,  when  she  stopped,  "I  ought 
to  be  tarred  and  feathered  for  being  so  ungentlemanly 
as  to  say  it,  I  suppose,  but  I  just  do  mean  it." 

The  girl  turned  her  face  up  towards  him.  "I'm 
so  glad,"  she  said,  simply. 

Belden  walked  on  in  silence.  "There's  a  toad  just 
the  color  of  the  leaves,"  he  said,  presently.  "Why 
are  you  glad  that  I  mean  it?"  he  asked,  a  second 
later. 

"Oh,  because  you're  so  sincere  and  honest,  and 
she's  —  well,  just  between  ourselves,  she  talks  about 
every  one  in  a  dreadful  way.  She  came  into  my 
room  last  night  to  get  my  steamer-rug,  and  you 
ought  to  have  heard  her!" 

"I  don't  see  what  she  wanted  your  rug  for,"  said 
Belden;  "they 've  got  mine." 

"There  are  separate  beds,  you  know.  It  was 
horribly  inconvenient  for  me  —  her  taking  it.  I  had 
to  go  and  get  Cousin  Lizzie's." 

"What  did  she  say?" 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  93 

"Is  n't  it  pretty  here?  So  warm  and  soft  and  sun- 
shiny. Oh,  I  mustn't  tell  you  what  she  said;  you 
would  n't  any  of  you  ever  speak  to  one  another  any 
more  if  I  did.  I  was  about  paralyzed  —  and  she  does 
tell  it  all  so  well,  too.  She's  awfully  clever.  I 
laughed  and  laughed."  Grace  laughed  a  little  as 
she  spoke. 

"How  do  you  like  him?"  Belden  was  conscious 
of  difficulty  in  not  appearing  vexed. 

"  I  only  had  that  one  walk  with  him ;  he  does  n't 
like  it  here  much,  I  guess." 

"  I  should  n't  think  that  he  would  like  it  here  at 
all ;  I  would  n't  if  I  were  he." 

"I  just  love  the  country.  Dear  me,  I  believe 
I  've  got  a  bit  of  gravel  in  my  shoe." 

"Can  I  help?" 

"No,  of  course  not.  Just  wait  a  minute  while  I 
get  it  out  .  .  .  there ! " 

They  wandered  down  the  wide  road  bordered  on 
one  side  by  the  forest,  on  the  other  by  the  planted 
cattle-way. 

"I  wonder  if  Mr.  Dunn  finds  Mrs.  Ellerslie  enter- 
taining," the  girl  said,  presently.  Belden  wondered 
idly  why  he  didn't  like  Mrs.  Ellerslie  better  than 
Miss  Waters,  for  she  certainly  was  entertaining.  No 
doubt  about  that. 

"She's  more  entertaining  than  his  wife,"  he  an- 
swered, presently. 


94          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Don't  you  like  Cousin  Lizzie?"  (Tone  of  chal- 
lenge.) 

"Of  course  I  like  her.  Who  could  help  liking 
her?" 

"Yes,  I  feel  that,  too.  And  I  don't  call  it  fussy, 
that  way  she  has  of  always  doing  things  and  going 
for  things;  I  think  she's  very  kind." 

"She's  kindness  itself." 

"  You  were  in  love  with  her  once,  too,  were  n't 
you?" 

"Who  under  the  sun  said  so?" 

"Never  mind;  but  you  were,  weren't  you?" 

"I  was  only  a  little  boy  and  she  was  a  young  lady 
—  a  young  lady  out  in  society,  you  know." 

"It's  pretty  ahead  there,  isn't  it?  I  do  so  love 
to  walk  hi  the  country.  Oh,  there's  another  bit  of 
gravel  in  my  shoe ! " 

"What  makes  you  wear  low  shoes?" 

"Now  you  sound  just  exactly  like  Mr.  Ellerslie 
and  Mr.  Dunn ! " 

Belden  looked  very  vexed.  No  bachelor  ever 
wants  to  act  like  a  married  man,  because  he  does  n't 
mean  to  ever  become  like  a  married  man.  The  last 
thing  that  a  bachelor  ever  intends  in  getting  married 
is  to  become  like  other  married  men. 

But  he  had  plenty  of  time  to  get  his  face  and  his 
disposition  straightened  out  before  Grace  got  this 
bit  of  gravel  out  of  her  shoe. 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  95 

"Let's  go  in  the  woods,"  he  suggested  then. 

"Is  it  safe  at  this  hour?" 

"There  are  no  tramps  about  here,  and,  anyway, 
I've  a  stout  stick." 

"Oh,  but  it's  snakes  I'm  afraid  of." 

"There  are  no  snakes  in  this  part  of  the  country." 

Just  then  a  wee  one  wriggled  right  across  their 
path.  Grace  shrieked  hi  a  way  that  made  her  escort 
jump,  clung  madly  to  him  for  a  minute,  and  then 
fainted  dead  away. 

Dunn  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  came  running  up  from 
somewhere  at  once. 

"What  the  devil  is  the  matter?"  Dunn  asked,  out 
of  breath  and  angry,  too,  for  Grace's  shriek  had  come 
athwart  his  conversation  this  time  exactly  as  the 
breath  of  the  Molkerei  had  blown  in  that  past  first 
day.  It  had  n't  been  any  more  pleasant  being  inter- 
rupted this  time  than  the  other  either,  for  Bobby 
had  deserted  them  and  gone  home  with  a  thorn  in 
his  thumb. 

But  such  is  life. 

"Oh,  the  poor  dear,  what  has  happened?"  Mrs. 
"Ellerslie  cried,  her  face  full  of  becoming  sympathy. 
Then  Dunn  helped  to  lay  Grace  out. 

"  She  saw  a  snake,"  Belden  explained. 

"A  snake !"  cried  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  sharply,  then  threw 
up  her  hands  with  the  skill  of  an  adept  and  fell  into 
Dunn's  arms  at  once.  She  only  wore  two  great 


96    JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

stabbing  pins  of  carved  shell  hi  her  hair,  and  they 
both  came  out  and  masses  of  wavy  hair  spilt  all 
over  him. 

Dunn  was  furious  with  Grace  for  fainting  and  with 
Belden  for  existing  on  that  spot,  since  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
had  been  good  enough  to  faint,  too. 

The  two  men  each  found  it  easier  to  be  angry  at 
one  another  than  to  do  anything  else,  for  each  nat- 
urally had  his  hands  full  and  this  was  all  at  the  side 
of  the  public  highway. 

"Damn  it  all !"  said  Dunn,  as  a  beginning  towards 
getting  out  of  difficulties.  Then  he  looked  up  the 
road  to  see  if  any  one  were  coming  and  saw  his  wife 
and  Ellerslie  just  dawning  over  the  top  of  the  hill. 
Bobby's  head  appeared  the  next  instant,  for  Bobby 
was  with  them.  "Holy  Moses!"  he  exclaimed  in 
agony,  "there's  her  husband !" 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  no  sooner  heard  that  than  she  came 
to  instantly.  "Oh,  my  two  pins,"  she  exclaimed, 
"See  if  you  can  find  them!  They  never  could  see 
through  these  bushes!  Have  you  got  a  flask,  Will? 
Lay  Grace's  head  down  and  I  'II  undo  her  collar.  We 
must  n't  lose  a  second." 

The  Good  Samaritan  would  have  stood  no  show  at 
all  against  Nellie  Ellerslie  in  that  minute.  Grace  had 
really  fainted,  however,  and  was  correspondingly 
difficult  to  deal  with.  Seeing  no  other  way  to  act 
and  being  in  truly  desperate  straits  on  account  of 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  97 

her  own  hair,  Mrs.  Ellerslie  hastily  unpinned  the 
girl's  coronet  braid  and  put  it  hi  her  pocket,  thus 
obtaining  some  hairpins  with  which  to  reconstruct 
her  coiffure.  She  was  wonderfully  clever  at  it  and 
looked  just  as  usual  in  three  seconds.  Belden  stood 
dumb;  he  never  had  seen  a  coronet  braid  before, 
and  it  and  all  the  affair  made  more  impression  on  him 
a  thousand  times  over  than  all  the  charms  which 
other  women  had  ever  flung  in  his  face.  It  isn't 
often  that  a  man  gets  a  chance  to  see  clearly  into  the 
reality  within  any  of  us,  but  if  he  does  get  the  chance 
and  gets  it  in  an  evil  minute,  woe  betide  that  woman. 
It  was  while  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  bestowing  Grace's 
crown  of  loveliness  into  her  own  pocket  that  Belden 
first  really  and  truly  actually  fell  hi  love  with  the  girl. 

But  now  the  other  two  of  the  party  joined  them. 

"  What 's  up ?  "  Ellerslie  asked.    "  Is  she  asleep? " 

"She  saw  a  snake,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  bending 
down  and  pushing  Grace's  hair  this  way  and  that  in 
tender  friendly  desperation.  "Oh,  Lizzie,  what  shall 
we  do?  She's  really  faulted,  you  know." 

"And  there's  no  water  anywhere,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
falling  on  her  knees.  "Oh  dear!  Haven't  any  of 
you  a  whiskey  flask?" 

The  men  looked  vaguely  at  one  another  and  then 
at  Bobby. 

"I'll  teU  you,"  said  Belden,  "I'll  run  to  the  house 
and  get  mine."  He  set  off  at  once. 

7 


98  JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"You  and  Mr.  Ellerslie  go  a  little  ways  away 
and  wait,  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn  to  her  husband. 
"Oh  dear,  dear!  She's  not  laced,  do  you  think, 
Nellie?" 

"Laced!  My  dear,  she's  padded,  if  anything. 
Isn't  it  terrible  how  she  lies  there?  She  doesn't 
know  a  thing,  does  she?  I'd  be  horribly  afraid  to 
faint  like  that." 

"She  looks  so  strange,  somehow,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
busily  chafing  the  cold  hands  of  the  girl.  "I  can't 
think  what  it  is,  but  her  head  looks  so  queer  to  me, 
somehow." 

"It's  her  braid.  It  came  loose,  and  I  just  managed 
to  get  it  into  my  pocket.  I  was  so  afraid  the  men 
would  see  it." 

"Did  n't  they  see  it?    I'm  glad." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  put  her  hands  up  to  her  own  hair 
and  carefully  made  sure  that  all  was  right.  Then 
she  leaned  forward  and  passed  her  fingers  over 
Grace's  brow. 

"She  was  awfully  lucky  to  have  such  eyelashes 
with  that  hair,  wasn't  she?"  she  murmured. 

Meanwhile  Dunn  and  Ellerslie  stood  out  by  the 
road  a  little  further  down. 

"Was  there  really  any  snake?"  Ellerslie  asked. 

"I  did  n't  see  it." 

"  I  thought  you  were  all  together." 

"They  were  ahead." 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  99 

"I'm  surprised  Nellie  did  n't  faint,  too.  She  never 
lets  a  chance  slip." 

Dunn  was  silent. 

"What  a  blamed  fool  a  man  is  not  to  carry  a  flask 
always ! "  Ellerslie  said  next.  Then  he  suddenly 
interrupted  himself:  "By  George,  I've  got  one,  after 
all.  I  lost  mine  in  Brixlegg,  so  I  entirely  forgot 
that  I  had  one  with  me  to-day."  He  pulled  out  a 
flask  as  he  spoke,  and  hurried  to  the  scene  of  the 
catastrophe. 

"Here's  the  flask,"  he  said  briskly,  handing  it  to 
his  wife. 

She  took  it.  "Why,  is  Will  back  already?"  she 
asked  in  surprise,  looking  at  the  monogram  thereon. 
Ellerslie  turned  away  without  answering.  Mrs.  Dunn 
seized  the  flask  and  poured  a  little  of  the  contents 
deftly  down  over  the  cheek  and  into  the  collar  of  the 
prostrate  girl.  "She'll  take  cold  and  surely  want  a 
fire  in  her  room  now,"  she  thought,  miserably 

"What  can  we  do  with  her?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  asked; 
then  she  took  the  flask.  "I  wonder  who  gave  Will 
this  flask.  It  wasn't  you,  was  it?" 

"I  never  gave  a  man  a  flask  in  my  life,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn.  "I  do  wonder  if  we  ought  to  unfasten  her 
anywhere." 

"  I  don't  see  how  we  can ;  everything  hooks  behind 
this  year,  you  know." 

Bobby  had  approached,  much  interested.     "Oh, 


100        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Mamma,"  he  said,  "sit  still;  there's  the  prettiest 
little  black  and  yellow  lizard  looking  out  from  under 
the  edge  of  your  dress.  Oh,  he's  so  cunning!" 

The  sound  that  Mrs.  Dunn  made  would  have  roused 
the  dead  and  of  course  roused  the  fainting.  It 
wasn't  a  shriek  or  a  gasp  or  a  groan;  it  sounded 
more  like  a  suffocated  yell  than  anything  else. 

"Oh,  Cousin  Lizzie,"  Grace  moaned  feebly,  "did 
you  burn  yourself  with  the  spirit  lamp?" 

They  got  home  some  way,  and  Grace  had  a  chill 
and  required  constant  care  at  night.  T 

"I  don't  see  what  they  ever  asked  that  girl  for," 
Ellerslie  said,  irritably,  to  his  wife  as  they  were  retir- 
ing. "  If  it  was  n't  for  her  and  Belden  this  would  be 
bearable,  but  with  them  —  "  ^ 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  furious  with  Belden  on  account 
of  a  look  which  he  had  given  her  —  a  look  of  burning  C 
contempt  bred  out  of  Grace's  coronet  braid. 

"I'll  agree  to  anything  you  say  about  Will  Belden    , 
to-night,"  she  said,  "I  certainly  have  my  opinion  of 
him."  ^ 

"What's  he  done  to  merit  your  disapproval?" 

"Why,  Frank,  just  between  ourselves,  can't  you  \ 
see  how  perfectly  despicable  it  is,  the  way  he  and 
Lizzie  are  trying  to  play  that  girl  into  his  hands?  " 

"Oh!"   Ellerslie  hadn't  noticed  that,  evidently. 

"Not  but  what  it's  truly  noble  in  Lizzie  to  be 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  101 

willing  to  give  the  only  man  who  ever  pays  her 
any  attention  up  to  any  one.  It's  pitiable  to  see 
her  pleasure  if  he  only  talks  with  her  five  minutes; 
that  is,  it  would  be  pitiable  if  it  was  n't  so  funny. 
Lizzie  is  so  funny  when  she  tries  to  be  attractive. 
I  don't  know  anything  funnier  than  a  woman  who 
does  n't  know  any  other  way  to  be  attractive  than 
to  put  on  a  clean  white  collar." 

"She's  here  in  the  country  and  so  she  dresses  for 
the  country.  I  think  she's  all  right."  Ellerslie  felt 
chivalrous  towards  the  woman  who  was  planning  to 
dispose  of  Belden. 

"  Oh,  of  course,  you  do.  Don't  suppose  for  a  minute 
that  I  have  n't  eyes  in  my  head."  Such  a  stinging 
little  hum  of  a  voice. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  No  chivalry  now  —  just 
the  plain  marital  trumpet-note. 

"Nothing,  of  course." 

Ellerslie  came  over,  laid  his  hand  heavily  on  his 
wife's  round  white  shoulder  (she  was  half  undressed 
now),  and  turned  her  face  roughly  upward.  "What  do 
you  mean?"  he  said  again,  this  time  quite  harshly. 

She  felt  a  little  frightened,  and  whenever  he  fright- 
ened her  he  regained  his  empire  and  she  regained  hers. 

"You  hurt,"  she  said,  shrinking  back.  "I  don't 
mean  anything,  Frank,  truly,  I  don't."  Then  she 
looked  up  and  noted  something  very  like  stern  anger 
in  his  eyes.  "Oh,  I'm  so  tired  of  them  all,"  she  cried 


102        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

out,  seizing  the  favorable  hour  for  action,  and,  nestling 
suddenly  against  him,  she  began  to  cry. 

"  Belden  's  an  ass ! "  Ellerslie  exclaimed,  hi  a  fury 
too  real  for  him  not  to  believe  in  himself.  At  the 
same  time  he  gathered  his  wife  close  in  his  arms. 

"  And  I  —  don't  like  —  Mr.  —  Dunn  —  either," 
sobbed  Mrs.  Ellerslie ;  "  and  that  child 's  such  a  nui- 
sance. Oh,  Frank-k ! " 

"The  woman  who  got  this  party  up  was  a  fool," 
Ellerslie  exclaimed,  becoming  a  changed  man  at  once. 
"Just  cry  it  all  out,  pet;  I  promise  you  I'll  never 
bring  you  into  another  such  mess." 

"No,  don't,"  she  whispered,  "I've  suffered  so 
much  here.  That  awful  tea,  and  you  don't  know 
how  cross  you've  been  with  me." 

"Me!  Cross  with  you!  What  an  idea!  Why,  I 
could  n't  be  cross  with  you  if  I  tried." 

"Oh,  Frank,  couldn't  you  truly?" 

"The  very  idea!    Of  course  I  could  n't." 

"Oh,  look  out,  my  hair's  caught  in  your  cuff- 
button.  Ow!" 

"Did  I  hurt  you,  precious?  I'm  so  sorry.  Do  for- 
give me." 

"You're  such  a  dear,  Frank.  Tell  me  what  you 
think  Lizzie  and  her  husband  are  talking  about  right 
now."  She  was  comfortably  nestled  in  his  arms. 

"  I  think  she  's  probably  discussing  lighting  the 
spirit  lamp.  It  seems  to  be  her  chief  end  in  We." 


THE  INS  AND  THE  OUTS  103 

"I  guess  we're  all  getting  pretty  tired  of  that 
spirit  lamp.  Look  out,  now  your  button 's  caught  in 
the  lace.  I  do  wish  you'd  put  on  your  dressing- 
gown.  There,  now  you've  torn  it." 

"I'll  buy  you  some  more." 

"Can  we  go  to  Brussels  on  our  way  to  Paris?" 
Mrs.  Ellerslie's  voice  grew  sweeter  and  sweeter. 

"Anywhere  you  please." 

The  loving  wife  now  folded  her  husband's  head 
neatly  in  her  arms.  "  I  do  love  you,"  she  murmured. 

Ellerslie  was  perfectly  happy.  He  knew  she  told 
the  truth. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    NEXT    MOENING 

THE  next  morning  the  postman,  having  rapped  long 
and  loudly  on  the  door  of  the  Ellerslies,  finally  left 
the  mail  with  Bobby.  Thus  a  chain  was  started 
which  later  developed  the  information  that  Ellerslie 
and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  risen  at  six  o'clock  and  started 
for  Salder.  They  had  taken  some  coffee  first  and  had 
left  word  with  the  cook  that  their  return  dates  were 
uncertain.  Mrs.  Dunn  went  into  their  room  and  dis- 
covered that  they  had  not  taken  either  night  gear 
or  toilet  things;  in  fact  they  had  taken  nothing 
except  Belden's  Baedeker. 

Grace  Waters  was  too  ill  to  care  what  anybody  did 
or  took,  but  Dunn  was  really  very  angry.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  whoever  else  Mrs.  Ellerslie  fooled  by  go- 
ing off  betimes  to  Salder  with  her  own  husband,  she 
certainly  owed  him  —  Dunn  —  some  foreword  as  to 
her  intentions. 

"  Perhaps  they  've  made  it  all  up,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
brushing  her  hair  out  smoothly  and  doing  it  up  in  the 
hard,  unbecoming  style  affected  by  women  who  have 
no  other  course  open  except  to  be  good. 


THE   NEXT   MORNING  105 

"Made  it  all  up!"  said  Dunn,  tartly.  The  words 
made  him  angrier  than  he  would  allow  to  show.  He 
felt  that  Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  done  a  most  reprehensible 
thing  in  going  off  to  Salder  at  all.  What  did  she  want 
to  get  off  with  her  husband  for,  anyway!  If  she 
wanted  to  go  to  Salder,  why  didn't  she  say  so? 
"Where  is  Salder?"  he  asked,  testily. 

"It's  the  first  station  on  the  way  to  Brunswick. 
I  don't  just  know  where  it  is.  Oh,  I  do  hope  that 
they've  made  it  up.  What  a  nice  time  we  could  have 
if  they'd  be  agreeable ! " 

"Don't  backbite,  Lizzie."  It  was  plain  to  see  that 
Dunn  had  but  little  sympathy  with  the  marital  bliss 
of  the  Ellerslies. 

"I  know,  dear,  I  don't  mean  to.  But  it  has  been 
hard.  Will  is  so  tired  of  them  both." 

"  I  was  n't  aware  that  this  was  Will  Belden's  party ; 
since  when,  pray?" 

"Hush,  dear,  some  one's  knocking.  Oh,  is  it  you, 
Bobby?  What  do  you  want,  dear?" 

"Is  my  donkey-wagon  come?" 

"Oh,  Bob,  what  did  you  get  him  that  wagon  for; 
it  was  so  unnecessary  and  it  does  n't  come,  anyway?" 

"  He  wanted  it,  and  I  thought  if  one  person  here 
could  have  what  he  wanted  it  was  a  pity  not  to  get 
it  for  him." 

Dunn  suppressed  much  innuendo  in  that  phrase. 
He  wasn't  having  what  he  wanted,  he  knew  that. 


It  came  to  him  what  life  might  be  if  his  wife  were 
the  kind  that  Ellerslie  or  Belden  would  enjoy  taking 
to  Salder.  That's  the  kind  of  wife  that  a  man  can 
be  proud  of  and  with  whom  he  takes  real  comfort. 
He  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  [might  have  been  in  Broistedt 
this  very  moment,  were  Mrs.  Dunn  but  that  kind 
of  woman. 

"Mamma,  when  will  my  donkey-wagon  come?" 
Bobby  was  still  at  the  door;  now  he  came  inside. 
"When  will  it  come,  Mamma?" 

"I  don't  know,  dear.  Nobody  can  tell  when  any- 
thing will  get  here  from  Hildesheim.  It  takes  a  long 
while.  Did  you  address  it  'in  Brunswick'  or  'by 
Brunswick/  Bob;  that  makes  such  a  difference." 

"What  difference  does  it  make?" 

"Why,  'in  Brunswick'  means  in  the  city  of  Bruns- 
wick, and  'by  Brunswick'  means  out  here  in  the 
country." 

Silence  for  a  little. 

"Do  you  think  that  it  will  come  to-day,  Mamma?" 
Bobby  asked. 

"Nobody  can  tell,  dear." 

"Where  is  Salder,  did  you  say?"  Dunn  asked 
suddenly. 

"  It 's  off  that  way.  I  don't  see  how  Nellie  can  walk 
that  far." 

"She  walks  all  right."  He  got  up  and  moved 
restlessly  about.  "I  guess  I'll  go  out,"  he  said. 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  107 

"But  not  after  them!"  Mrs.  Dunn  possessed  all 
the  tact  of  a  more  than  ordinarily  good  woman. 
"Oh,  that  wouldn't  do  at  all.  If  they  have  made 
up,  they'll  want  just  each  other  for  days  and  days, 
you  know;  they're  so  in  love." 

Dunn  took  his  tongue  between  his  teeth  and  left 
the  room  at  once.  He  was  now  too  angry  to  speak. 

Belden  tapped  awhile  later;  he  was  full  of  apolo- 
gies but  out  of  matches.  Mrs.  Dunn  was  trying  to 
order  black  darning-cotton  in  German  script,  while 
Bobby  swung  on  the  back  of  her  chair  and  wondered 
audibly  and  without  cessation  when  the  delectable 
donkey-wagon  would  come. 

"Where's  every  one?"  Belden  asked,  after  Mrs. 
Dunn  had  gone  down  on  her  knees  and  found  the  box 
of  matches  under  the  bed.  "All  out  walking?" 

"Grace  is  ill,  Bob  just  went  into  his  room  —  at 
least,  I  think  that's  where  he  is,  and  the  Ellerslies 
have  gone  to  Salder." 

"To  Salder!" 

"Yes." 

"Together!" 

"  Yes,  early  this  morning." 

"How  strange !    They  must  have  made  up  then?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  wearily,  "I  guess  so.  Be 
careful,  Bobby,  the  chair  may  go  over." 

"  When  do  you  guess  my  donkey- wagon  will  come, 
Mr.  Belden?"  said  Bobby. 


"I  don't  know,  Bobby.    Is  Miss  Waters  very  ill?" 

"She  took  cold  from  fainting;  it  isn't  anything 
really  serious.  Do  be  careful,  Bobby." 

"That's  what"  I  want  to  speak  to  you  about.  I 
had  my  eyes  opened  yesterday." 

Mrs.  Dunn  laid  down  her  pen  and  looked  at  him 
in  fright.  "  Why,  what  did  Grace  do  ?  " 

"She  didn't  do  anything.  Run  in  my  room, 
Bobby,  and  get  the  box  of  matches.  Be  sure  there 
are  matches  in  the  box;  there  are  a  lot  of  empty 
boxes  around." 

"But  I  just  gave  you  a  box  of  matches,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn. 

Belden  gave  her  an  expressive  look. 

"Oh  —  well  —  run  along,  dear,"  she  said,  standing 
corrected. 

"But  if  he's  got  one  box  of  matches,  what  does  he 
want  any  more  for?"  Bobby  asked. 

"I  don't  want  any  more,"  said  Belden,  laughing 
in  spite  of  himself;  "I  say,  let's  go  out  to  walk." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  pleased  at  being  so 
briefly  forgiven.  "  I  wonder  if  Bob  would  like  to  go ! " 

"We  can  ask  him,"  said  Belden,  rising. 

"Oh,  I'll  tell  you  where  we  can  go,"  Mrs.  Dunn 
exclaimed,  a  sudden  beam  of  enthusiasm  kindling  her 
voice;  "we  can  explore  the  castle.  You  haven't 
really  seen  it  yet,  you  know." 

"Oh,  yes,"  cried  Bobby,  "  I  want  to  see  the  castle. 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  109 

I  went  up  there  with  Papa  and  we  did  n't  see  anything 
to  see  —  only  a  tower  with  a  wooden  top.  And  Papa 
wanted  to  go  up  it,  but  Mrs.  Ellerslie  said  to  wait 
till  there  was  a  moon,  —  and  it  was  locked,  anyway." 

"Well,  come  on,"  said  Belden,  "for  the  castle." 

"I'll  just  run  to  Grace  a  minute  and  then  I'll  be 
ready,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  ranning  forthwith. 

"Well,  young  man,"  said  Belden  to  Bobby,  "you 
and  I  can  go  on  down-stairs,  I  reckon." 

"I'll  get  my  Alpenstock,"  said  Bobby.  "Cousin 
Grace  gave  me  her  Alpenstock.  She  bought  one 
because  she  thought  it  was  going  to  be  high  and 
pretty  here." 

"It  was  nice  of  her  to  give  it  to  you,  was  n't  it?" 
said  Belden,  following  him  into  the  hall. 

"  Oh,  Mamma  gave  her  back  the  Mark  she  paid  for 
it,"  said  Bobby.  "Mamma  says  she  always  gives 
everybody  back  their  Marks,  and  nobody  ever  gives 
her  back  her  Marks." 

"Mamma  is  very  generous,"  said  Belden,  vaguely 
uncomfortable  over  the  matches  in  his  pocket. 

"  Yes,  Papa  does  n't  like  it  very  much,"  said  Bobby, 
diving  into  his  room  and  reappearing  immediately 
with  the  Alpenstock.  "I'm  ready  now." 

They  went  down-stairs,  but  did  not  find  Dunn 
anywhere ;  so  they  went  out  in  the  court  where  the 
forester's  dog  and  the  doctor's  dog  and  the  poodle 
belonging  to  the  Gasthof  were  all  strolling  about. 


110        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"I  wish  I  had  a  dog,"  said  Bobby, — "not  like  these, 
you  know,  —  a  nice  one." 

Belden's  eyes  wandered  idly  over  the  array  of 
tables,  chairs,  and  benches,  and  then  back  to  the 
house. 

"I  wonder  what  keeps  your  Mamma  so  long,"  he 
said.  "  I  hope  Miss  Waters  is  not  worse." 

"It  isn't  that;  it's  that  she  talks  so  long,"  said 
Bobby,  "Mamma  can't  get  away.  She  doesn't  like 
to  be  rude  and  she  can't  get  away.  Papa  said  she'd 
learn  to  just  walk  off  after  a  while." 

Belden  looked  at  the  little  slit  of  view  that  showed 
between  the  trees  and  was  silent. 

After  a  liberal  while  Mrs.  Dunn  came  bustling 
down,  all  smiles.  "  Grace  is  so  much  better,"  she  said ; 
"  she  wanted  my  tea-things,  so  she  could  make  herself 
some  tea.  I  filled  her  spirit  lamp  for  her  and  fixed 
everything.  She  is  really  ever  so  much  better." 

"That's  nice,"  said  Belden,  and  then  they  all  set 
off  at  once. 

Mrs.  Dunn  told  the  truth  when  she  said  that  the 
woods  began  just  back  of  the  house.  Schloss  Dichten- 
berg  crowned  the  first  eminence  rising  out  of  the  plain 
of  North  Germany  in  that  direction.  Once  a  break 
was  made  in  the  monotony,  eminences  continued  to 
rise  until  the  Harz  Mountains  resulted  further  on. 

They  crossed  the  road. 

"Isn't  the  view  beautiful?"    cried  Mrs.   Dunn. 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  111 

u  Oh,  I  do  wish  that  Bobby  would  n't  run  after  those 
ducks.  It  always  seems  so  sort  of  inconvenient  for 
ducks  to  hurry.  Come  here,  dear,"  she  called. 

"  He  is  n't  going  to  hurt  them,"  said  Belden. 

"I  know,  but  they  see  the  Alpenstock  and  it 
frightens  them.  Bobby,  do  you  hear  Mamma?" 

"We'll  go  on  and  he'll  come  right  along." 

"I  know  he's  going  to  run  one  of  those  ducks 
down.  He  ought  never  to  stay  indoors  so  long  at  a 
time.  It  makes  him  so  —  so  active." 

"Let's  go  on  up." 

"Bobby!  Bobby!" 

"When  he  faces  this  way  he'll  see  us.  We'll  go 
slow." 

"  I  suppose  I  am  foolish,  but  the  Alpenstock  makes 
me  so  nervous.  Of  course  I  know  it's  six  feet  long, 
but  if  he  should  get  the  end  in  his  eye !" 

"Come  on,"  said  Belden. 

They  started  slowly  up  the  winding  path. 

"Oh,  by  George!"  the  man  exclaimed,  "I  forgot 
my  stick." 

"Must  you  have  it?" 

"  I  don't  like  to  go  in  the  woods  without  it." 

"Well,  hurry.  There'll  be  no  morning  at  all  left 
if  we  don't  get  up  there  soon,  you  know." 

Belden  hurried. 

Bobby  came  panting  to  rejoin  his  mother  now. 

"I'm  going  to  play  this  is  a  spear  and  pitch  it," 


112        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

he  said.  Then  he  hurled  the  Alpenstock  up  into  the 
trees.  His  mother  screamed.  "It  may  come  right 
down  on  our  heads;  oh,  Bobby,  what  makes  you  do 
such  things?" 

But  the  Alpenstock  did  n't  come  down.  It  stayed 
up,  and  it  was  all  of  three  minutes  before  they  could 
see  where  it  had  stuck. 

"Now  you've  lost  it,"  said  the  mother,  reproach 
and  content  mingling  in  her  tone. 

"No,  I  haven't,"  said  Bobby,  and  proceeded  to 
throw  stones  with  great  vigor. 

When  Belden  came  back  he  shook  the  tree,  the 
Alpenstock  came  clattering  down,  and  they  went  on 
up  to  the  castle. 

"This  side  used  to  be  sturmfrei,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
panting  a  little ;  "that  means  nobody  could  get  —  up 
it.  I  can't  just  —  see  why  not." 

"This  whole  hillside  has  probably  been  formed 
since,"  said  Belden;  "rubbish  from  the  walls,  and 
so  on,  you  know." 

"It  was  Mansfeld  that  blew  it  up;  I  don't  know 
just  when.  It  had  been  a  ruin  for  ever  so  long  in  1650. 
But  you  were  going  to  tell  me  something  about  your 
getting  your  eyes  opened." 

"Yes,  but  I've  had  no  chance  yet." 

"Oh,  there  was  all  that  long  while  when  he  was 
chasing  the  ducks  and  now  he's  climbing.  Go  on, 
tell  me;  what  was  it?" 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  113 

"It  was  Nellie  Ellerslie,  and  of  all  —  " 

"Bobby,  see  the  squirrel !  Yes,  well,  what  did  she 
do?" 

"It  was  that  business  hi  the  woods  yesterday 
when  your  niece  fainted." 

"She  is  n't  my  niece,  Will;  she's  my  cousin." 

"Yes,  I  know.  She  faulted,  you  know;  you  saw 
her,  and  just  as  she  faulted  your  husband  and  Nellie 
came  up.  Well,  I  was  trying  to  hold  the  girl  up,  but 
they  seemed  to  think  I  ought  to  lay  her  down,  so  I 
laid  her  down.  Nellie  asked  how  it  happened,  and 
when  I  said  a  snake  Nellie  made  a  scene  and  just 
then  you  and  Ellerslie  came  over  the  hill." 

"Do  look  at  Bobby,  sitting  on  that  pole!  Isn't 
he  a  picture?  Yes,  and  so  we  came  along  — ?" 

"Well,  Nellie  was  hi  a  bad  fix  because  her  hair  was 
down,  and  she  didn't  want  Frank  to  see  that  she 
had  it  down  —  " 

Mrs.  Dunn  stopped  short.  "Her  hair  was  down! 
What  did  she  have  her  hair  down  for?" 

"I  don't  know;  I  guess  the  phis  came  out.  You 
know  she  always  has  it  so  it  comes  down  easy.  Any- 
way, it  was  down." 

"Was  she  out  walking  with  you  all  with  her  hair 
down?" 

"She  wasn't  out  walking  with  us;  they  just 
came  up  when  Grace  —  I  mean  Miss  Waters  — 
fainted." 


114        JUST  BETWEEN   THEMSELVES 

"Was  she  out  walking  with  my  husband  with  her 
hair  down?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  don't  remember.  I  only  know 
her  hair  was  down,  and  when  she  saw  Ellerslie  she 
wanted  it  up,  and  —  " 

Bobby  came  running.  "Oh,  Mamma,  I  see  a 
train.  Do  you  suppose  it's  got  my  donkey-cart?" 

"Run  quick  and  maybe  you  can  see  them  unload 
your  cart  if  it's  there."  Bobby  tore  off.  "Go  on, 
Will." 

"Well,  you  know  the  girl  was  in  a  dead  faint; 
you  saw  her?" 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know !    Go  on." 

"Well,  Nellie  unpinned  the  top  of  her  hair  and 
took  the  phis  and  did  up  her  own  hair." 

"She  didn't  unpin  her  curls;  surely  not,  oh, 
surely  not?" 

"She  took  the  top  —  that  top  —  that  thing  on 
top,  you  know." 

"Coronet  braid,  they  call  it.  Well,  that's  bad 
enough,  goodness  knows.  And  Nellie  deliberately 
unpinned  it,  before  you,  too.  How  funny;  she  just 
did  that  because  Grace  is  a  girl  and  she's  married. 
How  mean!" 

"Mean"  (tone  most  expressive),  "and  Dunn  was 
there,  too,  you  know." 

"She  wasn't  thinking  of  him,  he's  married.  But 
I  think  it  was  just  as  horrid  hi  her  to  be  walking  with 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  115 

her  hair  down.  Between  ourselves,  I  never  could  see 
what  made  men  so  crazy  about  her,  but  it's  just  that 
sort  of  thing  they  like,  I  guess.  Imagine  me  out 
walking  with  Frank  Ellerslie  with  my  hair  down ! " 

Mrs.  Dunn's  face  and  tone  were  equal  in  horror. 
No,  it  was  quite  impossible  to  imagine  her  out  walk- 
ing with  any  one  with  her  hair  down,  Belden  felt 
that.  "Goon,  Will." 

"Oh,  I've  no  more  to  say.    That's  all." 

They  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  just  here.  More 
tables,  chairs,  and  benches,  another  red  brick  Gasthof. 

"Where's  the  Schloss?"  asked  Bobby,  who  was 
standing  warder  with  his  Alpenstock. 

"It's  further  on;  come,  dear." 

They  followed  the  road  around  to  where  a  square 
tower  projected1  out  into  their  way. 

"That's  the  Burgverliess,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn;  "that 
means  the  dungeons.  Only  think,  they  found  skele- 
tons chained  up  in  there." 

"What  did  they  chain  them  up  for?  "  asked  Bobby, 
with  deep  interest;  "did  they  want  to  run  away?" 

"The  tower  goes  away  down  in  the  earth,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn,  "I  don't  just  know  how  deep.  There's  a 
trap-door,  but  the  key 's  down  at  the  Domane.  Those 
are  buttresses  further  on.  You  don't  suppose  that 
every  time  they  go  to  walk  Nellie  takes  her  hair 
down,  do  you?" 

"What  are  buttresses,  Mamma?"  Bobby  asked. 


116          JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Do  keep  that  Alpenstock  out  of  my  way,  dear, 
I  nearly  fell  over  it  then.  You  don't  suppose  that 
she  does,  do  you?" 

"No,  indeed.  It  was  just  an  accident.  But  fancy 
her  unpinning  that  girl's  hair  that  way." 

"I  know,  it's  awful!" 

"What's  awful,  Mamma?"  asked  Bobby. 

The  road  wound  prettily  around  the  corner  of  the 
old  ruin.  They  went  around  with  the  road 

"They  dug  all  this  out,  you  know,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn ; 
"it  was  all  covered  with  earth.  It  cost  ever  so  much. 
There  was  nothing  but  just  a  hill  here  with  some 
ruins  of  the  tower." 

"What  did  they  dig  it  out  for?"  asked  Bobby. 

"Nobody  knows  how  old  the  castle  is.  It's  first 
mentioned  in  the  time  of  Barbarossa,  1180, 1  believe." 

"Eleven-eighty  what,  Mamma?"  asked  Bobby. 
"What's  a  Barbarossa?" 

"  He  was  a  German  king,  a  Kaiser  like  the  one  they 
have  now,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  "  See,  dear,  is  n't  that  a 
big  tree?" 

"It's  stone  inside,"  said  Bobby,  climbing  up 
between  the  trunks  and  prodding  the  roots  with  his 
Alpenstock;  "it's  all  stone  inside." 

"Let  me  take  the  Alpenstock,"  said  Belden,  prod- 
ding in  his  turn;  "it's  a  fact,  — it  is  full  of  stone. 
Was  there  a  wall  here,  do  you  think?" 

"I  knew  you'd  be  interested,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  117 

fairly  beaming  over  having  evoked  a  sympathetic 
attitude  in  him  in  the  end.  "  You  '11  soon  feel  just 
as  I  do  about  it.  It's  such  a  nice,  agreeable  ruin. 
Such  grand  places  to  dig,  and  all  the  earth  rolls  right 
down-hill.  You  must  come  up  and  help  me  dig 
often." 

"Where's  my  stick?"  saidBelden.  "Oh,  Bobby's 
got  it." 

"That's  where  the  gate  was,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"Come  this  way,  Bobby  dear;  don't  run  down 
there." 

"Do  you  know  this  is  mighty  quiet  and  peaceful," 
said  Belden,  poking  here  and  there  with  the  Alpen- 
stock. "I'm  glad  they  went  to  Salder.  It  leaves 
Dichtenberg  in  such  Ruhe,  as  the  Germans  say." 

"I  don't  think  Nellie 's  quite  well,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
charitably;  "she'd  never  take  another  girl's  hair- 
pins that  way  if  she  felt  like  herself." 

The  Burgfried  rose  up  at  their  left,  six-sided  and 
high  with  a  hideous  Aussichtsturm  going  on  two 
staircases  higher  yet. 

"What's  that,  Mamma?"  Bobby  asked. 

"That  was  the  watch-tower,  dear;  they  used  to 
look  down  from  there,  and  when  they  saw  a  lot  of 
mules  all  laden  with  stuff  to  sell  coming  along  from 
Goslar  to  Brunswick  they  used  to  sweep  down  from 
here  and  take  them  all  captive,  steal  the  mules  and 
the  stuff  they  carried,  and  stick  the  poor  men  who 


118        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

were  with  them  down  in  that  tower  we  saw  until 
their  relatives  paid  to  get  them  out." 

"Oh,  what  fun!"  said  Bobby.  "I  wish  I'd  lived 
then." 

"  Why,  Bobby,  you  don't  wish  any  such  thing.  Be 
careful,  that's  Mr.  Belden's  cane." 

"The  tower  looks  awfully  new  to  me,"  said  Belden; 
"do  you  suppose  Barbarossa  ever  went  up  it?" 

"It's  perfectly  new.  It's  only  been  built  a  few 
years.  Maybe  Barbarossa  went  up  the  old  one.  He 
besieged  this  castle  and  took  it.  That's  its  first 
appearance  in  history.  They  think  that  Henry  the 
Fowler  may  have  built  it  when  he  built  Regenstein. 
Do  you  know,  Will,  if  you  —  " 

"I  wonder  how  long  her  cold  will  lay  Miss  Waters 
up."  Belden  was  looking  at  the  view.  "She  won't 
get  any  good  at  all  out  of  being  in  the  country  if  she 's 
always  in  bed,  you  know." 

"Of  course  not.  I  quite  agree  with  you  there. 
What  we  see  here  was  all  dug  out,  you  know;  that 
was  the  Herrenhaus  down  there." 

"What  a  big  hen-house!"  said  Bobby. 

"Her-ren-haus,"  said  his  mother,  distinctly. 

"Is  n't  it  beautiful?  Who  did  you  say  lived 
here?" 

'  Why,  of  course,  lots  of  people  lived  here.  Otto  IV. 
kept  his  Christmas  here  once." 

"Who  was  he?" 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  119 

"He  was  the  son  of —  My  goodness!  where 's 
that  child  gone?" 

"Oh,  he's  all  right.  Whose  son  did  you  say  he 
was?" 

"Will,  we  must  hunt  that  child  right  up.  Ruins 
are  never  safe.  Oh,  there  he  is ! " 

Bobby  was  standing  in  what  was  left  of  the  door 
of  the  Burgverliess. 

"Mamma,  there's  a  place  here  where  I  can  look 
down  and  there's  a  room  underneath." 

"That's  the  trap-door  I  told  you  about.  Take 
care,  Bobby,  we're  coming  as  fast  as  we  can." 

Belden  helped  the  lady  down  the  ruins  of  a  stone 
stair,  and  together  they  crossed  the  Great  Hall.  The 
Burgverliess  opened  off  of  it  —  doubtless  so  that  the 
starving  going  on  in  the  dungeons  below  might  give 
extra  zest  to  the  feasts  there  served.  The  restorers 
had  laid  a  new  cement  floor  in  the  upper  story  of  the 
tower,  and  in  its  center  a  wooden  door  was  clamped 
down  and  locked  with  a  rusty  lock. 

Mrs.  Dunn  crossed  the  floor  and  leaned  on  the  wall 
opposite,  looking  out  at  the  view.  Belden  got  down 
on  his  knees  and  looked  at  the  lock. 

"I  wonder  which  is  Wolfenbuttel,"  she  said,  sweep- 
ing the  plain  with  her  eyes. 

"I  bet  I  can  open  it  with  the  button-hook  in  my 
knife,"  said  Belden. 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  very  quiet,  gazing  over  the  wide 


expanse  of  field  and  farm,  village  and  tree-bordered 
road ;  she  loved  beauty  in  any  form  —  except  that 
embodied  in  Nellie  Ellerslie's  hair. 

"Oh,  Mamma,  he's  got  it  opened!"  cried  Bobby, 
three  feet  from  her  ear.  She  turned  —  and  shrank 
back. 

"  Oh !    Oh,  be  careful !    Bobby,  please  be  careful." 

"I'm  holding  his  leg,"  said  Belden.  He  and  Bobby 
were  lying  flat  on  their  faces,  looking  into  the  dark 
room  below. 

Mrs.  Dunn  got  down  on  all  fours  and  looked  in, 
too. 

"  Fancy  putting  men  down  there !  "  she  said,  shud- 
dering. 

"I'm  beginning  to  see  a  little  in  the  dark,"  Bobby 
exclaimed,  delightedly. 

"See,  there's  a  hole  into  the  next  room  below," 
said  Belden.  "The  stair  must  have  gone  there." 

"Do  be  careful  of  Bobby,"  pleaded  the  mother. 

"I'm  holding  him;  there  can't  anything  happen," 
said  Belden ;  but  just  as  he  spoke  Fate  gave  him  the 
lie,  for  Bobby  let  something  fall  into  the  hole. 

"My  goodness  me,  what  was  that!"  Mrs.  Dunn 
exclaimed.  "  Something  fell  in ! " 

"It  was  Mr.  Belden's  cane,"  said  Bobby,  not  just 
knowing  what  to  do,  but  turning  deep  red  at  a  venture. 

"Oh,  no!"  cried  Belden;  "not  my  cane,  surely !" 

"Yes,  it  was." 


THE  NEXT  MORNING  121 

Belden  was  a  very  sweet-tempered  man;  he  drew 
back  and  shut  the  cover  down  sharply.  "It's  for- 
bidden to  open  it,"  he  said,  "I  ought  to  have  known 
better."  Then  he  jumped  to  his  feet. 

Bobby  was  quite  crestfallen  —  for  him. 

"Was  it  —  was  it  any  cane  hi  particular?"  Mrs. 
Dunn  queried,  greatly  distressed. 

"  It  does  n't  matter.  It  belonged  to  my  grand- 
father, but  it  does  n't  matter." 

They  walked  away,  Bobby  trailing  the  Alpenstock 
in  a  meek  and  dejected  manner.  The  air  of  the  whole 
party  was  as  altered  as  if  Barbarossa  had  suddenly 
returned  and  conquered  all  over  again. 

"I  hope  they'll  be  back  from  Salder  for  dinner," 
Mrs.  Dunn  hazarded,  looking  sideways  at  the  cane- 
bereft.  She  was  very  sorry  for  what  had  occurred, 
but  thought  that  it  was  Belden  who  was  silly  now. 

Belden  said  nothing. 

They  passed  the  Gasthof  and  started  down  the  path. 
Bobby  was  the  first  to  become  his  usual  self  again. 

"Oh,  Mamma,"  he  said,  "do  you  suppose  my 
donkey-cart  has  come  now1?" 


CHAPTER  IX 

WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE 

MRS.  DUNN  was  much  hurt  over  Belden's  attitude  in 
regard  to  the  cane.  She  felt  that  he  should  have 
balanced  the  cane  against  her  constant  supply  of 
spirit  lamp,  matches,  and  good  temper,  and  let  it  go 
at  that.  But  Belden  was  weary  of  being  the  only 
man  who  did  n't  need  to  be  carefully  considered,  and 
so  he  allowed  himself  to  look  upon  his  cane  as  a  very 
personal  thing. 

The  Ellerslies  took  dinner  hi  Salder  and  got  back 
to  Dichtenberg  about  three  o'clock.  They  came 
up-stairs  with  that  overdone  attitude  of  innocence 
which  people  who  should  have  said  what  they  meant 
to  do  always  assume  towards  those  whom  they 
should  have  told. 

"Lizzie!  Where  are  you,  Lizzie?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
cried  in  sweet,  clear  tones,  as  she  walked  along  the 
hall,  and  Mrs.  Dunn,  still  hurt  over  the  cane,  felt 
that,  after  all,  only  a  woman  could  sympathize  with 
a  woman. 

"I'm  in  here,"  she  called  back  from  Bobby's 
room. 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  123 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  opened  the  door.  "Well,  dear!" 
She  walked  in  and  seated  herself  on  the  side  of  the 
bed.  "Whatever  we  have  or  haven't  done,  we've 
been  to  Salder,  and  I  could  scream  I  'm  so  tired.  It 's 
an  awful  ways." 

"Was  it  pretty?"  Mrs.  Dunn's  tone  was  slightly 
non-committal. 

"Not  very,  but  it  straightened  Frank  out  and 
that's  all  I  cared  about.  We  bought  some  postals 
and  saw  the  old  house,  or  Burg,  or  whatever  they 
call  it.  The  woman  that  sold  us  the  cards  said 
that  one  of  the  Von  Salders  was  there  a  little 
while  ago.  He  bought  some  cards.  They  don't 
own  even  their  old  castle  any  more.  Oh,  me,"  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  yawned,  wearily,  "it's  a  long  walk,  but  I 
rather  like  old  places.  I  like  Hildesheim.  That  dear 
old  Rathaus!" 

"You'd  better  take  Will  Belden  and  go  to  Bruns- 
wick next." 

"Why?" 

"WTiy,  you  went  to  Hildesheim  with  my  husband, 
and  now  you've  been  to  Salder  with  yours;  it  ought 
to  be  Will's  turn  next." 

"Why  do  you  say  that?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  tone 
sharpened  a  little,  and  she  was  ready  to  be  angry; 
but  then  she  thought  better  of  it  and  laughed.  "  Oh, 
Lizzie,  aren't  men  nuisances?  I  declare,  when  I 
think  what  a  nice  time  you  and  I  —  and  Bobby,  of 


124       JUST   BETWEEN   THEMSELVES 

course  —  could  have  here  if  there  were  only  no 
men." 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  dying  to  go  for  Will  Belden,  and 
now  she  saw  her  chance.  "I  fancy  we  'd  be  rather 
lonesome  without  our  husbands,  dear,"  she  said,  "  but, 
just  between  ourselves,  I  certainly  do  wish  we  had  n't 
asked  Will  Belden.  He  's  got  such  a  bad  temper. 
We  went  out  to  walk  this  morning,  and  nothing  must 
do  but  he  must  have  Bobby's  Alpenstock  and  Bobby 
carry  his  cane,  and  then,  when  we  were  looking  down 
the  hole  into  the  dungeons  up  there  in  the  castle, 
the  child  let  the  cane  fall  in,  and,  well,  you  ought 
to  have  seen  Will ;  I  thought  he  'd  eat  the  boy  up 
alive!" 

"Oh,  you  can't  tell  me  anything  new  about  Will 
Belden's  temper,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  not  a  whit 
averse  to  going  for  any  one,  just  as  a  set-off  against 
the  virtue  displayed  by  walking  to  Salder  with  a  mere 
husband.  "I  never  would  have  suggested  him,  only 
you  were  in  such  desperate  straits  for  a  single  man.  I 
know  fifty  men  who  would  have  given  anything  to 
come  here,  but  they  're  not  the  sort  to  be  picked  up 
on  three  days'  notice.  When  you  're  in  a  hurry  you 
have  to  take  anything,  even  Will  Belden." 

Mrs.  Dunn  felt  vaguely  distressed  over  the  way 
that  Nellie  always  got  the  better  of  her.  "She 
really  is  awfully  bright,"  she  confessed  to  herself, 
"she  's  ever  so  much  brighter  than  I  am."  Then  she 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  125 

added  aloud:  "  He  said  that  the  cane  had  belonged 
to  his  grandfather,  and  it  had  Goslar  on  the  handle 
as  plain  as  day." 

"Isn't  that  just  like  a  man?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was 
smoothing  out  her  gloves.  "My  dear,  I  wonder  if 
there's  any  lie  that  a  man  won't  tell  if  he  thinks  it 
will  make  a  woman  uncomfortable?  Is  n't  there  any 
way  that  we  can  fish  that  cane  up  and  make  him 
wish  he'd  never  been  born?  Couldn't  we  lower 
Bobby  into  the  hole?" 

"Lower  Bobby!  Nellie,  it's  the  place  where  they 
found  the  skeletons.  It's  the  castle  dungeon!" 

"I  would  n't  care,  Lizzie;  I'd  get  that  cane  some- 
how, just  for  the  fun  of  seeing  Will  Belden's  face. 
You  could  hand  it  back  to  him  and  say  how  surprised 
you  were  that  his  grandfather  had  ever  been  in 
Goslar." 

"Perhaps  the  man  up  at  the  Gasthof  there  would 
go  down  for  it.  He  lives  there,  so  he  must  have 
plenty  of  time."  Mrs.  Dunn  meant  no  reflection  on 
the  rush  of  business  which  surged  madly  around  the 
upper  Gasthof;  she  was  only  thinking  of  Will  Belden's 
prospective  discomfiture. 

"Well,  dear?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  evidently  impa- 
tient to  go  cane  hunting  at  once. 

"We  might  go  up  and  ask  him  right  after 
tea." 

"Oh,  my  dear,  let's  go  up  right  now.     Frank 


126        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

intends  to  go  to  sleep,  and  your  husband  's  in  a 
temper,  and  —  " 

"My  husband  in  a  temper!"  Mrs.  Dunn  opened 
her  eyes  in  great  surprise.  "How  do  you  know?" 

"My  dear,  how  could  I  help  knowing?  We  met 
in  the  lower  hall,  and  if  I'd  been  his  wife  he 
couldn't  have  looked  madder  over  my  going  to 
Salder.  I  suppose  he  thought  that  because  I  went 
to  Hildesheim  with  him  I  could  n't  go  any  place 
now  without  him." 

"I  don't  see  why  he  should  mind." 

"I  don't  either,  dear,  but  he  seemed  to  mind;  he 
seemed  to  mind  very  much.  Oh,  men  are  queer,  and 
there  seems  to  be  something  about  me  that  makes 
them  even  queerer  than  usual.  But  come,  let's  go 
up  to  the  castle  and  see  if  we  can't  get  that  stick 
out  somehow.  And  then,  too,  we  '11  have  such  a  nice 
little  time  together.  I  declare,  I'm  absolutely  lone- 
some to  be  alone  with  you;  you  know  that  as  well 
as  I  do." 

Mrs.  Dunn  appeared  acquiescent.  "  But  I  must  go 
and  see  how  Grace  feels  first,"  she  stipulated. 

*"0h,  of  course.  And  I'll  change  my  shoes;  these 
are  so  dusty  from  Salder." 

"You'll  spoil  another  pair  up  at  the  castle." 

"Never  mind;  I  must  be  decent." 

Mrs.  Dunn,  who  had  big  feet  and  wore  shoes  most 
vastly  comfortable,  took  this  almost  as  warmly  unto 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  127 

herself  as  she  had  taken  Belden's  grandfather's 
Goslar  cane.  "  I  do  wonder  if  I  am  getting  sensitive," 
she  thought,  frightened  to  death  for  fear  of  so  getting. 
Then  she  went  to  Grace,  whom  she  found  sitting  up 
in  bed,  playing  cribbage  with  Bobby.  The  young 
girl's  soft  yellow  hair  made  a  sort  of  hazy  glow  around 
her  face ;  it  was  a  sweet  face. 

"Oh,  Mamma,  has  my  donkey-wagon  come?" 
cried  Bobby,  with  a  leap  that  upset  the  cribbage 
board. 

"No,  dear;  oh,  see  what  you've  done!  Pick  them 
all  up  now.  Grace  dear,  Nellie  and  I  are  going  out 
for  a  little  walk." 

"Oh,  have  I  got  to  go?"  wailed  Bobby. 

"No,  dear,  no;  you  can  stay  right  here.  We're 
just  going  out  till  tea-time." 

"  He  can  stay  with  me  till  I  have  to  begin  to  dress," 
said  Grace. 

"We  sha'n't  be  gone  long,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  "I 
have  to  be  back  promptly  to  boil  the  water  for  tea, 
you  know." 

She  went  out  hi  the  hall  and  found  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
waiting.  Together  they  went  down  and  out,  and  as 
soon  as  they  were  where  they  could  do  it  they  wound 
their  arms  fondly  about  one  another. 

"Isn't  it  nice  to  be  alone  together?"  said  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  squeezing  her  dear  friend  hard.  "Oh,  I 
forgot  to  ask  how  Grace  is.  Better?" 


128        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Yes,  she's  going  to  get  up  for  tea." 

" Really?  I'm  so  glad.  You  know,  I  went  in  and 
sat  with  her  a  while  the  other  night  and  cheered  her 
quite  a  bit." 

"Yes,  she  told  me  how  kind  you  were  to  her." 

"Kind!  My  dear,  it  was  nothing.  I  love  to  do 
anything  I  can  for  anybody  in  this  world;  but, 
Lizzie,  between  ourselves,  did  you  ever  see  any  one 
with  so  little  hair  as  that  girl  has  got?  Why,  my 
dear,  I  don't  believe  she  has  —  well,  I  would  n't  say 
that  she  has  a  bit  more  than  you've  got,  and  think  of 
the  difference  in  your  ages." 

Mrs.  Dunn  looked  up  at  the  sky.  No,  she  vowed 
she  wouldn't  grow  sensitive.  Sensitive  people  are 
so  hard  to  get  on  with,  and  Mrs.  Dunn  knew  too 
much  of  the  difficulties  of  getting  on  with  people  to 
ever  be  willing  to  swell  the  quota  of  those  who  have 
to  be  gotten  on  with. 

"Isn't  it  a  lovely  day?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  continued. 
"I  love  these  sort  of  days,  even  if  they  do  make  me 
crazy  to  be  almost  anywhere  but  here." 

"It's  so  nice  not  to  have  Bobby  to  look  out  for, 
for  a  few  minutes,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  resolute  as  to 
keeping  on  pleasant  ground.  "  What  do  you  suppose 
ever  possessed  Bob  to  bring  him  when  we  had  him 
so  nicely  settled  in  Hanover?"  she  said  the  next 
second,  quite  forgetting  her  good  intention. 

"Don't  ask  me,  my  dear.    I  don't  know  why  men 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  129 

ever  do  anything  that  they  do.  I  only  know  that  if 
I  had  a  child  settled  in  a  school,  the  earth  might  turn 
upside  down  and  I'd  never  take  him  out.  I  should 
think  that  you  'd  go  stark  raving  crazy." 

"Well,  of  course  he  is  my  child,  so  he  doesn't 
bother  me  as  he  does  you.  But  he  is  a  care.  I  don't 
know,  though,  that  he  is  as  much  trouble  as  Frank 
is.  Seems  to  me  Frank  gets  worse  and  worse.  Is  he 
always  as  cross  now  as  he's  been  here  this  week?" 

"Oh,  my  dear,  this  week  is  nothing  to  sometimes. 
Do  you  know,  confidentially,  when  we  're  where  there 
are  good-looking  men  —  what  I  call  real  men  — 
Frank  is  a  perfect  devil.  But  that  is  n't  saying  that 
he  didn't  drive  me  half  mad  yesterday  over  your 
husband." 

"  Over  my  husband ! " 

"Yes,  only  fancy,  over  your  husband!  I  really 
almost  took  it  as  an  insult.  But  sometimes  it  seems 
to  me  that  there  doesn't  live  the  man  that  Frank 
can't  be  jealous  about." 

Mrs.  Dunn  walked  a  little  more  slowly.  She  always 
lost  her  breath  going  up-hill,  but  now  she  was  busy 
wondering  if  she  wasn't  actually  sensitive  for  good 
and  ever.  "  But  perhaps  she  does  n't  mean  it,"  she 
said,  "or  perhaps  she  thinks  I'm  not  bright  enough 
to  see  what  she  does  mean."  Neither  view  gave  her 
much  comfort. 

They  had  reached  the  top  of  the  climb  by  this 
9 


130        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

time,  and  now  set  to  work  to  hunt  up  the  man 
who  kept  the  Gasthof.  They  found  him  soon, 
standing  looking  at  the  view. 

But  he  had  no  ladder.  Or  rather  he  had  two  lad- 
ders, one  too  short  and  the  other  too  long.  He  mani- 
fested a  singular  lack  of  initiative  as  to  the  whole 
undertaking. 

"Perhaps  you  think  the  floor  would  break?"  sug- 
gested Mrs.  Dunn. 

After  he  gathered  what  she  was  trying  to  say  in 
German,  he  answered  that  he  thought  nothing  of  the 
sort,  —  that  the  floor  was  strong  as  strong  could  be. 
The  staircase  had  rotted  and  fallen  in,  but  the  floor 
was  as  strong  as  ever. 

"And  they  really  found  fifteen  skeletons  down 
there,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "Oh  dear,  just  to  think 
how  they  must  have  felt !" 

The  Wirt  made  no  answer  to  this  sprightly  obser- 
vation, and  the  lady  decided  that  he  must  have 
been  drinking.  It  was  her  way  of  settling  all  ques- 
tions involving  masculine  mysteries.  They  left  him 
there  and  walked  on  up  to  the  scene  of  the  morn- 
ing's accident. 

"It  must  have  all  looked  so  different  in  those  old 
times,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  walking  slowly  and  racking 
her  brains  to  think  where  she  had  lately  seen  an  un- 
occupied ladder.  "To  think  that  Barbarossa  must 
have  ridden  through  this  very  gate !" 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  131 

"Was  this  a  gate?"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "How 
can  any  one  tell  anything  about  these  old  places?" 

"The  man  who  wrote  the  book  looked  it  all  up  in 
the  library  at  Wolfenbuttel.  It 's  really  quite  a  story. 
There,  I  know  where  I've  seen  a  ladder  now  — 
down  by  the  place  where  I  dig.  There's  one  lying 
alone  behind  that  old  barn  —  or  I  guess  it 's  a  new 
barn;  it  looks  new." 

"Oh,  let's  get  it  and  then  go  down  in  the  hole  our- 
selves," exclaimed  Mrs.  Ellerslie ;  "  that  will  be  such 
an  adventure ! " 

"Would  you  dare?" 

"  Dare !  I  'd  dare  anything  just  to  see  Will  Belden's 
face  when  you  hand  him  back  the  cane." 

Mrs.  Dunn  hesitated.  She  was  not  herself  altogether 
adamant  as  to  wanting  to  see  Will  Belden's  face  when 
she  handed  him  back  the  cane.  "Well,  we'll  see  if 
it 's  too  heavy  for  us  to  manage,"  she  said. 

They  went  back  out  of  the  ruined  gate  and  down 
around  behind  to  where  Mrs.  Dunn  was  wont  to  dig. 
At  the  time  that  the  good  people  of  Dichtenberg  took 
hold  and  uncovered  the  ancient  stronghold  that  had 
once  menaced  them  directly  or  indirectly  day  and 
night  for  centuries,  they  merely  made  a  small  ditch 
around  the  whole  outside  of  the  outer  wall,  just 
revealing  the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  wall  there, 
but  nothing  further.  Mrs.  Dunn,  with  true  anti- 
quarian zeal  and  splendid  feminine  vigor,  had  under- 


132        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

taken  to  deepen  the  ditch  in  one  place,  but  she  had 
not  deepened  it  much.  No  matter  how  easy  it  is  to 
scratch  earth  down  hill,  the  fact  remains  that  the 
deeper  into  the  hill  you  dig  the  further  you  have  got 
to  scratch  the  earth,  and  the  ratio  of  the  scratch  to 
the  dig  increases  alarmingly.  Mrs.  Dunn  had  not 
dug  much  lately;  that  was  how  she  had  had  time  to 
notice  the  ladder. 

They  found  it  just  where  she  had  remembered  seeing 
it.  It  lay  lengthwise  along  back  of  the  red-brick 
barn.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  took  up  one  end,  and  Mrs.  Dunn 
took  up  the  other.  It  was  not  heavy,  and  they  walked 
off  to  the  castle,  bearing  it  between  them. 

"Isn't  this  fun?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  exclaimed, 
enthusiastically. 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  the 
situation  filled  her  with  a  rare,  bubblingly  joyful 
excitement. 

They  had  some  difficulty  getting  the  ladder  down 
into  the  Herrenhaus,  as  it  did  not  occur  to  either  to 
just  let  it  slide.  Then  they  laid  it  on  the  ground  and 
went  into  the  "Burgverliess. 

"Will  pried  this  up,  and  so  I  guess  I  can,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  dropping  on  her  knees,  and  with  the  aid  of 
two  hairpins  she  finally  got  the  trap-door  open. 

"Oh,  doesn't  it  look  dangerous!"  said  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  peering  in.  "  Dear  me,  I  don't  know  whether 
I  dare  go  down  there.  Think  of  the  skeletons!" 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  133 

But  Mrs.  Dunn's  blood  was  now  up.  "Come  on 
and  help  me  with  the  ladder,"  she  said,  resolutely. 

They  brought  the  ladder  and  they  stuck  its  bigger 
end  into  the  hole.  It  slid  slowly  down,  and  after 
a  brief  period  of  acute  anxiety  they  felt  it  bring 
up  solid  on  the  floor  beneath.  About  two  feet 
stuck  out  into  the  glorious  sunlight  of  the  world 
of  life. 

"Are  you  really  going  down?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  asked, 
seeming  to  have  turned  the  responsibility  of  the  whole 
expedition  over  to  her  friend  by  this  time.  "Oh, 
Lizzie,  do  you  dare?" 

"Of  course  I  dare,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  trying  the 
ladder  with  one  or  two  pushes.  "You  don't  need  to 
come,  but  I  'm  going  down  to  get  that  cane." 

She  folded  her  skirts  closely  around  her  and  stepped 
on  to  the  ladder.  Then  she  began  to  descend  slowly 
backward,  one  step  at  a  time. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  watched  her,  at  first  with  an  odd, 
gasping  sensation,  then,  after  a  minute  or  two,  as  she 
saw  how  plain  and  practical  it  all  looked,  with  feel- 
ings of  vaguely  determined  emulation. 

"Am  I  almost  down?"  Mrs.  Dunn  called.  "I 
can't  see  a  thing  yet,  you  know." 

Her  voice  came  up  with  a  sad,  sighing  sort  of 
hollow  reverberation. 

"  I  can't  see  anything,  either,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  called 
back.  "Oh,  Lizzie,  how  does  it  seem?  Are  there 


134        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

any  more  skeletons  ?  Does  it  make  you  feel 
blue?" 

"It's  horribly  cold  and  damp,"  Mrs.  Dunn  replied. 
"  I  ought  to  have  matches,  too.  Don't  go  away, 
Nellie.  Oh,  now  I'm  beginning  to  see  a  little.  Oh, 
it's  so  strange!" 

"What's  strange?  Is  there  anything  to  see?  Can 
you  see  the  cane?  " 

"I  don't  know  what  it  is,  but  it's  so  strange.  To 
think  of  where  I  am,  you  know.  Oh,  I  can  see  ever 
so  much  now!  Oh,  it's  so  strange!" 

"What's  strange?  I'm  coming,  too;  are  you  off 
the  ladder?  I'm  coming  down." 

"I'm  here  in  the  corner.  Yes,  come  on;  it's  per- 
fectly safe  as  long  as  we  stand  still." 

"Do  you  see  the  cane  anywhere?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
was  getting  on  the  ladder  now.  "Isn't  this  an  ad- 
venture ?  Won't  the  men  be  wild  when  we  tell  them  ?  " 
She  was  backing  down  all  the  time. 

"I  wonder  how  many  stories  there  are  underneath? 
Isn't  exploring  fun?"  Mrs.  Dunn  was  viewing  her 
friend's  progress  with  interest.  "Perhaps  we  can  get 
another  ladder  and  go  through  them  all." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  stepped  off  on  to  the  floor.  "  Ugh, 
is  n't  it  slimy  and  dirty  and  horrid?" 

"Yes;  doesn't  it  give  you  sensations,  though?" 

"But  such  horrid  sensations.  Think  of  being 
stuck  in  here  for  long.  Five  minutes  will  be  plenty 


WHEN  WOMEN  COMBINE  135 

for  me.  Oh,  see  the  water  stains!  I  never  knew 
before  what  it  really  meant  to  rot  in  a  dungeon." 

"And  the  men  brought  to  a  castle  like  this  were 
generally  peaceful  merchants  or  their  men,  held  for 
ransom.  The  robbers  and  so  forth  were  always 
carried  to  towns  and  tried  and  hung." 

"I'd  rather  be  hung  than  stay  here  long.  Where's 
the  cane?  Let's  get  it  and  go  right  up  again." 

The  cane  was  lying  near  the  opening  into  the  floor 
below. 

"I  can't  walk  over  there;  it's  too  slippery,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn.  "I'll  just  creep." 

"Oh,  you'll  get  your  dress  so  filthy  dirty." 

"Yes,  I  know.    But  I  don't  dare  walk." 

"Hold  to  the  ladder." 

"Yes,  I  can  do  that." 

Mrs.  Dunn  put  her  hand  on  the  ladder  and  reached 
out  for  the  cane. 

There  was  a  good  deal  about  the  ladder  which 
neither  woman  knew.  For  one  thing,  although  it 
had  brought  up  solidly  enough  against  the  wall,  it's 
purchase  on  the  slimy  floor  was  anything  but  secure. 
It  had  held  against  the  straight  downward  push,  but 
it  had  no  resistance  to  put  forth  when  the  pressure 
came  from  the  side.  As  Mrs.  Dunn  touched  it,  she 
jarred  it  a  hairbreadth  beyond  endurance,  and  it 
slid  out  sideways  and  came  clattering  down  into 
the  dungeon.  It  was  that  ladder  which  the  Wirt 


136        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

at  the  Gasthof  had  considered  too  short  for  the 
purpose. 

"Oh,  my  God  in  heaven!"   cried  Mrs.  Dunn. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  gave  an  awful  shriek,  tumbled  to- 
gether in  a  heap  in  a  corner,  and  really  and  truly 
faulted. 


CHAPTER  X 

WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES 

ABOUT  quarter  to  four  that  afternoon  Grace  Waters, 
prettily  dressed  and  looking  very  sweet  indeed,  came 
out  of  her  room  and  went  and  tapped  at  the  door  of 
the  sitting-room. 

"Come  in!"  cried  Dunn's  voice. 

She  entered.  Dunn  was  playing  cards  with  Bobby 
by  one  window.  He  thought  that  his  wife  should  not 
have  left  him  to  amuse  Bobby,  but  still  he  didn't 
mind  so  much,  for  he  enjoyed  card-playing  and  the 
interest  in  the  game  made  Bobby  forget  to  ask  about 
the  donkey-wagon.  Ellerslie  was  sitting  by  the  other 
window,  reading. 

"Hasn't  Cousin  Lizzie  come  back?"  Grace  asked, 
looking  about. 

"No,"  said  Dunn.  "Wait,  Bobby,  you  can't  do 
that.  No,  she  has  n't!" 

"Then  I'll  lay  the  tea-table  to-day,"  said  Grace. 

Ellerslie  raised  his  eyes  and  was  fairly  startled  to 
see  how  pretty  she  looked.  For  a  second  he  forgot 
that  he  and  his  wife  were  reconciled,  and  started  to 
offer  to  help  her.  Then  he  remembered  how  affairs 


138        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

stood  and  went  on  reading.  Dunn  and  Bobby  were 
there,  anyhow. 

Grace  unfolded  the  tea-cloth  and  spread  it  on  the 
oval  table.  Then  she  lifted  the  tea-tray  from  the  top 
of  the  tea-wagon  over  on  to  the  table,  and  laid  the 
spoons  and  napkins  around. 

"  I  think  1 11  light  the  spirit  lamp,"  she  said.  "  It  '11 
be  tea-time  by  the  time  it  boils."  She  wondered 
where  Belden  was  and  if  he  were  out  walking  with 
the  others.  "Where  is  the  spirit  lamp?"  she  asked. 

"I  guess  it's  hi  your  room,"  said  Dunn.  "I  take 
this,  Bobby;  now  you  see  why  you've  got  to  look 
sharp  when  you  play  with  Papa." 

"No,  I  have  my  own;  only  it's  burnt  out,"  said 
Grace. 

"I'd  tell  you  to  go  and  get  ours,  only  that's  burnt 
out,  too,"  said  Ellerslie,  looking  up.  "No  one  can 
say  that  we  have  n't  spirit  lamps  enough,  for  you  hit 
against  them  whichever  way  you  turn  in  the  dark. 
But  the  beastly  things  are  always  burnt  out." 

"Mamma  keeps  hers  behind  that  curtain,"  said 
Bobby;  "she  keeps  it  hid  so  as  to  keep  it,  she  says. 
Ow!  Oh,  Papa,  let  me  take  that  back;  I  wasn't 
thinking." 

"No,  young  man,  when  you  play  with  your  Papa 
you  must  play  man  to  man.  Now  I  take  that, 
too." 

"But  I  ain't  a  man   yet,  Papa,  and   you   are. 


WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES  139 

Mamma  says  you  never  forget  to  be  a  man  for  a 
minute."  Bobby  was  plainly  very  much  put  out. 

"It's  your  play,  Bobby." 

"Oh,  Papa,  do  you  suppose  the  donkey-wagon's 
come?" 

"Goon,  Bobby." 

Grace  was  filling  the  spirit  lamp,  which  she  had 
found  behind  the  curtain,  with  the  alcohol  which 
she  had  also  found  there.  Then  she  looked  all 
around  for  matches,  found  some,  and  lit  the  lamp. 

"Horrid  smelling  stuff  that  is,"  said  Ellerslie, 
looking  up  again.  "No  one  would  have  it  around 
at  home,  you  know." 

"You  can  get  pure  alcohol  at  the  Apotheke  if  you 
want  it,  I  dare  say,"  said  Dunn;  "go  on,  Bobby." 

Grace  filled  the  kettle  with  water  and  set  it  on  to 
boil.  Then  she  came  and  sat  down  in  the  corner  of 
the  sofa.  Ellerslie  shut  up  his  book. 

"Feel  all  right  now?"  he  inquired,  kindly. 

"Yes,  I  feel  splendidly.  I  was  so  sorry  to  be  ill 
again.  You'll  think  I'm  always  ill." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Ellerslie,  politely. 

"No,  we  won't  play  another,  Bobby,"  said  his 
father.  "It's  impossible  to  play  a  good  game  where 
people  are  talking,  and  anyway  it's  tea-time." 

"  I  wonder  if  I  ought  to  ring  for  the  rolls  and  butter 
before  they  come  in ! "  Grace  asked. 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Dunn.    "They'll  be  in  by  the 


140 

time  it's  ready.  Lizzie  has  got  her  watch,  and 
they  know  that  we  always  have  tea  promptly  at 
four." 

Grace  rang,  and  as  she  rang  Will  Belden  tapped. 

' '  Come  in.  Oh,  I  thought  you  were  out  with  Lizzie, ' ' 
Dunn  said,  as  he  entered  alone. 

Ellerslie  had  thought  that  he  was  out  with  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  and  brightened  up  some  more  because  he 
wasn't. 

"But  where  are  the  rest  of  us?"  Belden  asked, 
taking  the  other  end  of  the  sofa  and  looking  at  Grace 
with  eyes  fascinated  afresh. 

"They're  off  walking  somewhere,"  said  Dunn. 
"They'll  be  here  hi  a  minute.  Lizzie's  got  her 
watch." 

"They  wouldn't  go  far,"  said  Grace.  "Mrs. 
Ellerslie  walked  to  Salder  this  morning,  you  know; 
she'd  be  tired.  I  heard  her  say  she  had  on  the  wrong 
shoes." 

"Funny  hole,  Salder,"  said  Ellerslie,  wondering 
why  he  had  n't  taken  the  other  place  on  the  sofa 
while  it  was  empty.  "Ever  been  there?"  to  Grace. 

"Not  yet,"  answered  Dunn. 

"We  must  walk  there  some  day,"  said  Will  Belden 
to  Grace.  "There's  a  castle  there,  isn't  there?"  to 
Ellerslie. 

"There's  a  kind  of  a  big  house,  but  no  castle.  The 
Amtmann  lives  hi  it.  What  is  an  Amtmann?" 


WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES  141 

"It's  the  man  that  gets  the  taxes  after  they're 
collected,"  said  Belden. 

"How  interesting!"  said  Grace  Waters,  and  she 
really  thought  that  it  was. 

Just  here  Minna  brought  the  rolls  and  butter,  cake 
and  sugar,  and  the  kettle  began  to  boil. 

"Shall  I  make  the  tea  or  shall  we  wait  a  little?" 
Grace  asked. 

"There's  no  use  waiting,"  said  Dunn,  who  was 
hungry. 

"Mamma's  got  her  watch,"  said  Bobby,  who  was 
hungry,  too. 

So  the  tea  was  made,  and  Grace  sat  at  the  head 
of  the  table  and  poured  it.  Belden  watched  her  and 
thought  how  clever  she  was.  It  takes  brains  to  pour 
tea. 

"We'll  have  to  get  out  for  a  walk  after  tea,"  he 
said,  with  vague  generality,  as  he  buttered  his  roll. 

"Oh,  Papa,  can  we  walk  to  the  station  and  see  if 
my  donkey-wagon's  come?"  exclaimed  Bobby. 

"  Shall  you  put  him  back  in  the  same  school  where 
he  was  before,  when  we  leave  here?"  Ellerslie  asked. 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Dunn.  "His  mother  wants 
him  to  learn  German." 

"But  I  can't  understand  what  anybody  says  to 
me  in  that  school,"  said  Bobby.  "I  wish  I  could  go 
to  school  hi  France." 

"If  I  had  a  boy  I'd  educate  him  in  America,"  said 


142        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Ellerslie.  "  I  'd  never  sacrifice  the  future  of  an  Ameri- 
can to  any  woman's  whims." 

"I  don't  want  to  go  to  school  anywhere,"  said 
Bobby.  "I  want  to  play  outdoors.  I  want  my 
donkey-wagon." 

"I  do  wonder  where  Cousin  Lizzie  can  be,"  said 
Grace. 

"She's  having  a  good  time  somewhere,"  said  Dunn. 
"Perhaps  they're  getting  tea  up  at  the  castle.  I  saw 
a  lot  of  tables  and  chairs  up  there." 

"They  could  only  get  coffee  up  there,"  said 
Belden. 

"  I  meant  coffee,  of  course,"  said  Dunn. 

"I  hope  Nell  hasn't  been  persuaded  into  a  long 
walk,"  said  Ellerslie,  seeing  how  absorbed  Miss  Waters 
and  Mr.  Belden  were  becoming,  and  feeling  his  heart 
thrill  suddenly  towards  his  wife.  "She  gets  tired 
easily." 

"They  didn't  speak  as  if  they  were  going  far," 
said  Grace.  "I  can't  see  why  they  don't  come." 

"Nothing  in  the  wide  world  could  happen  to  two 
able-bodied  women  in  these  woods,"  said  Dunn. 
"They'll  have  some  perfectly  reasonable  story  to  tell 
when  they  come  in.  I'll  have  some  more  tea, 
please." 

"It  always  frets  my  wife  to  have  me  worry,"  said 
Ellerslie.  "I  never  worry,  anyway.  If  one  of  them 
sees  a  snake  the  other's  there  to  yell,  and  I  never 


WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES  143 

knew  Nellie  to  faint  when  it  wasn't  practical.  I'll 
have  some  more  tea,  too,  please." 

" Perhaps  I'd  better  start  more  water  to  boil," 
said  Grace. 

"Let  me  do  it,"  said  Belden,  jumping  up.  More 
water  was  started  to  boiling. 

"  Pretty  view  over  the  plain,"  said  Ellerslie.  His 
tea  was  making  him  feel  good. 

"Papa,  when  we're  done,  won't  you  take  me  to 
the  station  to  see  if  my  donkey-wagon's  come?" 
asked  Bobby. 

"Well,"  said  Dunn,  also  much  cheered  by  food  and 
drink,  "I  don't  know  but  I  will.  Only  you  mustn't 
blame  Papa  if  it  is  not  there,  you  know." 

"Don't  you  want  to  go  to  walk,  too?"  Belden 
asked  Grace. 

She  hesitated.  "  I  ought  to  wait  for  Cousin  Lizzie, 
I  think,"  she  said. 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Dunn,  "  you  'd  make  Lizzie  awfully 
mad  if  you  did  any  such  thing.  Go  on." 

"Well,  I  will  then,"  said  Grace.  "Won't  you  come 
too,  Mr.  Ellerslie?" 

"No,  I'll  wait  here,"  said  Ellerslie. 

"You'd  better  come  along  with  Bobby  and  me," 
said  Dunn,  who  had  become  extremely  good-tem- 
pered under  the  influence  of  the  tea  which  was 
much  stronger  than  usual,  owing  to  Belden's  hav- 
ing turned  the  caddy  upside  down  into  the  tea- 


144        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

pot.  "We'll  have  just  a  pleasant  hour  getting 
down  and  back.  Well,  are  you  most  done,  young 
man?  Papa  can't  wait  forever,  you  know." 

"I'm  all  done,"  said  Bobby;   "I'm  ready." 

Ellerslie  hesitated  as  to  what  to  do. 

"Come  on,"  said  Dunn.  The  strength  of  the  tea 
had  caused  him  to  entirely  forget  his  animosity 
towards  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  husband.  "  It 's  a  good  thing 
to  walk  between  tea  and  supper.  That 's  what  we  're 
here  for." 

"All  right,  I'll  go  with  you,"  said  Ellerslie,  him- 
self subtly  influenced  by  the  cup  which,  under 
Mrs.  Dunn's  superintendence,  never  cheered  too 
loudly. 

"  Shall  I  save  something  for  them  when  they  come?  " 
Grace  asked. 

"No;  if  they'd  meant  to  have  tea  here  they'd 
have  been  back  in  time,"  said  Dunn.  "  Lizzie  has  her 
watch." 

"Then  I'll  pick  up  the  things." 

"And  I'll  help  you,"  said  Belden. 

Ellerslie,  Dunn,  and  Bobby  went  out  hi  the  hall. 
Ellerslie  and  Dunn  lit  cigars,  and  Bobby  ran  for  his 
Alpenstock. 

"Is  he  going  to  take  that  through  the  village?" 
Ellerslie  inquired. 

"He  won't  hurt  anything,"  said  Dunn.  "He  can 
take  it  if  he  wants  to.  That's  why  the  boy  likes  to 


WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES  145 

get  out  with  me,  —  it 's  because  I  give  him  the  free 
hand.    His  mother  fusses  too  much." 

"Women  always  fuss,"  said  Ellerslie,  agreeably. 

They  went  out  into  the  court.  There  was  nobody 
there  except  the  forester's  dog.  He  got  up  from  where 
he  was  lying  and  looked  sadly  and  earnestly  into 
their  faces. 

"He  wants  to  come,  too,"  said  Bobby;  "can't 
he?" 

"Oh,  yes,  let  him  come,  too,"  said  Dunn,  still 
rejoicing  in  the  good  effects  of  Grace's  tea. 

"I  should  think  the  forester  would  want  his  dog 
with  him,"  said  Ellerslie.  "If  I  kept  a  dog  I  should 
want  him  with  me." 

"He  does  want  it  with  him,"  said  Bobby,  "but 
the  dog  did  n't  want  to  go.  The  forester 's  gone  to 
another  forest  on  his  bicycle,  and  the  dog  got  tired 
and  came  back." 

"Funny  business,  the  way  they  handle  the  forests 
here,"  said  Ellerslie.  "I  understand  you  can't  cut 
down  a  tree  in  Germany  without  permission." 

"  I  'd  like  to  see  any  one  forbidding  me  to  cut  down 
a  tree  that  belonged  to  me,"  said  Dunn. 

"What  would  you  do,  Papa?"  asked  Bobby, 
curiously. 

"What  would  I  do!  Well,  I'd  make  him  re- 
member your  Papa  till  the  last  day  he  lived,  young 
man.'7 

10 


146        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"They  make  a  pretty  good  thing  out  of  their  forests 
over  here,  though,"  said  Ellerslie. 

"Oh,  after  a  fashion,  after  a  fashion,"  said  Dunn. 
"But  just  look  over  statistics  and  compare  their  cut 
and  their  exports  with  ours.  I  tell  you  the  results 
are  paralyzing.  We  lead  the  world  on  lumber." 

"It's  a  subject  in  which  I  don't  take  the  slightest 
interest,"  said  Ellerslie.  "I  pay  my  taxes  and  let 
the  rest  fight  it  out  to  suit  themselves." 

"Hi,  Bobby,  quit  chasing  those  ducks,"  cried 
Dunn.  "Papa  didn't  buy  you  that  Alpenstock  for 
any  such  nonsense." 

"You  did  n't  buy  me  that  Alpenstock,"  said  Bobby, 
returning  from  his  momentary  pursuit  of  tame  game. 
"Cousin  Grace  gave  it  to  me,  and  Mamma  gave  her 
back  the  Mark  she  paid  for  it." 

"Well,  where  did  Mamma  get  that  Mark,  I  'd  like 
to  know?  You  want  to  think  a  little  bit  about 
that." 

"I'd  never  buy  a  child  an  Alpenstock,"  said 
Ellerslie. 

"I  wasn't  consulted,"  said  Dunn.  "Curious  wall 
to  the  left  there;  must  be  part  of  the  old  town- wall." 

"This  never  was  a  town;  it 's  only  a  village." 

"Well,  it  had  a  wall.  You  can  see  that.  Those 
are  the  kind  of  little  windows  they  always  had  in  old 
walls." 

Ellerslie  diverged  to  the  side  and  examined  one  of 


WHERE  NO  ONE  WORRIES  147 

the  windows.  It  was  blocked  within.  Dunn  joined 
him  and  felt  of  one  or  two  stones. 

"It 's  old,  all  right,"  he  said,  appreciatively. 

"Oh,  everything  's  old  over  here,"  said  Ellerslie. 
"I  suppose  that  castle  up  there  dates  back  to  Char- 
lemagne." 

"I  don't  remember  just  when  he  lived,  but  it's 
an  old  castle.  Come  out  of  that  mud,  Bobby." 

"  T  is  n't  muddy,  Papa." 

"Yes,  it 's  muddy;  look  how  you  've  spattered  my 
trousers.  If  you  want  to  walk  with  Papa  you  've 
got  to  behave." 

"Children  never  like  walking,"  said  Ellerslie. 

"And  this  is  a  dirty  walk,  too,"  said  Dunn,  "and 
stony.  If  Napoleon  made  this  road,  as  they  tell  me 
he  did,  I  don't  think  it  does  him  much  credit." 

"What  should  Napoleon  build  a  road  through 
Dichtenberg  for?  Why  did  n't  he  use  the  Goslar 
Road  over  there?" 

"Don't  ask  me.  I  don't  know  anything  about  it. 
Maybe  it  was  n't  built  then." 

"  Yes,  it  was.  It 's  the  highroad  from  Goslar  to 
Brunswick.  It 's  always  been  there.  That 's  where 
the  people  used  to  be  going  along  when  they  swooped 
down  on  them  out  of  Dichtenberg  and  carried  all  the 
men  they  did  n't  kill  off  to  prison." 

"And  they  put  them  in  that  hole  down  under  the 
castle,  didn't  they,  Papa?"  asked  Bobby,  coming 


148        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

up  from  behind  with  a  frog-like  vaulting  over  the 
Alpenstock. 

"They  just  did,  my  son,  and  kept  them  there." 

"Nobody  ever  has  to  stay  in  prison  now,  do  they, 
Papa?" 

"Oh,  yes;  when  they  do  anything  wrong,  bad 
men  go  to  the  nice  clean  jail  in  town,  but  no  one 
ever  has  to  stay  in  a  castle  dungeon  any  more." 

"I  wouldn't  like  to  have  to  stay  hi  that  hole; 
we  looked  in  it  this  morning  and  it  was  dark,"  said 
Bobby,  continuing  to  take  leaps. 

"Nobody  will  ever  be  in  that  hole  again,  Bobby," 
said  his  father,  benevolently ;  "that 's  one  sure  thing." 

"They  found  skeletons  there,  Mamma  said,"  said 
Bobby,  "lots  of  them.  How  long  does  it  take  to 
make  a  skeleton,  Papa?" 

"It  —  "  began  Dunn,  and  was  instantly  hushed  by 
the  Molkerei. 

"What  is  that  smell,  anyhow?"  Ellerslie  asked, 
when  they  were  by  at  last. 

"It 's  cows  or  cheese  or  something  on  that  order," 
said  Dunn.  For  a  few  brief  sweet  seconds  he  gave 
himself  over  to  warm  recollections  of  how  Mrs.  El- 
lerslie had  looked  that  morning  just  as  —  cruel  Fate ! 
He  pulled  himself  together  with  a  jerk.  "I  wonder 
what  that  windmill  over  there  grinds." 

"Perhaps  it  doesn't  grind,  perhaps  it  pumps." 
Ellerslie  had  gotten  out  a  cigar. 


149 

"Bobby,"  cried  Dunn,  "come  off  that  plowed 
ground.  Look  at  your  shoes  now!  What  would 
Mamma  say  if  Papa  came  home  with  shoes  like 
yours?" 

Bobby  contemplated  his  shoes  earnestly.  "I 
guess  she  'd  think  your  feet  had  got  awful  little," 
he  said. 

Ellerslie  laughed.  "  Oh,  he  's  just  as  sharp  as  they 
make  them,"  said  Dunn,  with  great  satisfaction. 
"Run  along  now,  Bobby;  three  can't  walk  on  this 
walk." 

"Awful  narrow  walk,"  commented  Ellerslie. 

"Well,  every  one  always  walks  in  the  street,  you 
know." 

"Why,  Papa,  —  why  does  every  one  walk  in  the 
street?" 

"Bobby,  Papa  said  to  run  on,  and  Papa  always 
means  what  he  says  —  you  know  that." 

"You've  got  him  well  trained,"  said  Ellerslie. 
"One  word  from  you  and  he  does  exactly  what  he 
pleases." 

Thus  improving  each  golden  minute  with  conver- 
sation at  once  intellectual  and  uplifting,  the  three 
masculine  creatures  finally  arrived  at  the  station. 

The  donkey-wagon  was  there. 

"And  when  can  you  send  it  up?"  Dunn  asked. 

It  appeared  that  the  donkey  would  have  to  come 
down  himself  for  his  cart. 


150 

"You  '11  have  it  to-morrow  morning,  Bobby,"  said 
his  father,  tenderly.  "Now  what  do  you  say?" 

"Thank  you  a  million  times  for  my  donkey-wagon, 
Papa." 

"Come  on,"  said  Ellerslie,  "let 's  start  back." 


CHAPTER  XI 

LEFT  TOGETHER 

BELDEN  and  Grace  left  together  felt  too  vaguely 
happy  for  words.  There  is  something  so  wonderful 
ha  being  left  together  if  you  really  want  to  be. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  seems  the  most  remark- 
able piece  of  luck  that  ever  happened  yet,  and  much 
too  fairylike  to  be  true.  (And  it  generally  is.) 

"I  suppose  I'd  better  pick  up  the  things/'  said 
Grace,  not  looking  at  him  because  she  knew  that  he 
was  looking  at  her.  "They  won't  expect  tea  now." 

Belden  felt  how  different  she  was  from  Mrs.  El- 
lerslie.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  always  kept  her  eyes  fixed  on 
him  so  as  to  be  ready  to  look  away  quickly  when  he 
should  look  up.  When  a  man  gets  past  the  first  bloom 
of  his  youth,  he  'd  rather  wish  for  a  look  than  receive 
it  full  in  his  face.  "Yes,  and  I  '11  help  you,"  he  ex- 
claimed, getting  up. 

It  was  perfectly  delightful,  the  clearing  away. 
Grace  shook  the  table-cloth  out  of  the  window  and 
such  crumbs  as  did  n't  go  astray  in  the  hogshead  of 
rain-water  fell  alike  on  the  just  and  unjust  hens 
below. 


"Let  me  fold  the  cloth,"  begged  the  man. 

"No,  you  would  not  get  it  in  the  folds,"  said  the 
maid,  blushing  over  goodness  knows  what. 

Then  she  put  the  cloth  away  in  its  proper  place 
under  the  tea-wagon,  rolled  the  tea-wagon  to  the 
side  again,  replaced  the  vase  of  forget-me-nots  in  the 
center  of  the  table,  and  paused  irresolute. 

"Now  we're  going  to  walk,  you  know,"  said 
Belden,  gently. 

"Oh,  are  we?"    She  gave  a  little  start. 

"Of  course;  did  n't  you  promise?" 

She  didn't  remember  having  promised,  but  she 
was  charmed  to  find  that  she  had  done  so  inadver- 
tently. It  seemed  an  agreeable  precedent. 

"Wait  till  I  get  my  stick,"  said  the  man,  with  deep 
feeling,  and  went  at  once  to  fetch  it. 

"I  thought  that  you  lost  your  stick  up  in  the 
castle  this  morning,"  Grace  said  when  he  returned. 

"Oh,  that  was  only  a  cheap  one  I  got  in  Goslar. 
I  was  as  mad  as  a  hatter  at  first,  though.  I  thought 
that  it  was  my  other." 

"Cousin  Lizzie  said  your  grandfather  gave  it  to 
you." 

"Yes,  I  thought  that  it  was  that  one  at  first,  but 
as  soon  as  I  got  home  I  found  I  had  the  other  out 
with  me.  I  would  n't  have  lost  that  stick  of  my 
grandfather's  for  anything ;  it 's  got  a  little  hole 
where  the  tassel  went  through.  Oh,  if  it  had  been 


LEFT  TOGETHER  153 

that  stick,  I  'd  have  been  up  there  before  now  and 
gotten  it  back." 

"Could  you  get  it  back?" 

"  Of  course ;  just  stick  a  ladder  in  and  climb  down." 

They  went  out. 

The  air  was  glorious  and  the  forest  gorgeous.  The 
roadway  ahead  was  carpeted  in  bright  golden  brown, 
and  overhead  sunlight  and  the  call  of  southward- 
flying  birds  was  heard.  The  wide  plain,  dotted 
with  cheerful  little  red-roofed  villages,  lay  to  their 
left. 

"How  could  an  army  have  the  heart  to  come  and 
set  fire  to  them  all!"  Grace  said,  not  knowing  what 
to  say,  and  wishing  that  her  escort  would  n't  crowd 
her  completely  into  the  gutter. 

"They  didn't  think  anything  about  such  things. 
Men  had  no  hearts  in  those  days,"  said  Belden. 

Grace  blushed  at  the  word  "  hearts."  She  had  been 
educated  mainly  in  Europe,  and  the  situation  seemed 
to  her  to  border  on  the  wild  and  risque,  anyhow. 

"Let 's  walk  under  the  trees,"  said  the  man,  lead- 
ing the  way  hence;  "it 's  prettier." 

"  It 's  all  pretty,"  the  girl  said.  Belden  thought  her 
ever  so  much  cleverer  than  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  He  turned 
and  looked  sharply  at  her  hair.  Those  curls  were 
never  pinned  on!  He  felt  angry  at  Mrs.  Dunn  for 
having  suggested  it. 

"I  do  wonder  where  Cousin  Lizzie  got  tea,"  said 


154        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Grace ;  "  don't  you  think  it 's  queer,  their  not  coming 
back?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  Perhaps  they  've  had  trouble 
with  their  husbands  and  are  paying  them  out." 

"Oh,  do  you  think  so?" 

"  I  don't  know.  Married  people  are  so  queer.  I  'd 
never  act  towards  a  woman  the  way  those  men  do. 
I  know  that!" 

Grace  felt  this  to  be  terribly  pointed.  "But  — 
but  they  're  very  fond  of  one  another,  I  thought," 
she  faltered. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Belden,  again.  "It's  none 
of  it  according  to  my  ideas.  I  'd  never  kiss  my  wife 
before  people,  or  scold  her,  either." 

"But  do  they  k-k  —  do  they  do  it  before  people?" 

"  I  've  seen  Ellerslie  do  it.  I  suppose  he  thought 
it  drove  me  wild.  As  if  I  cared  who  kissed  his  wife !" 

"Oh,  you  don't  think  that  very  many  men 
k-k  —  love  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  do  you?  Not  really?" 

"  I  did  n't  mean  it  that  way.  I  meant  any  man 
could  kiss  his  own  wife,  for  all  I  cared." 

"  Oh,  I  see.  But  that  is  n't  an  uncommon  way  for 
any  one  to  feel,  is  it?" 

Belden  thought  her  innocently  childish  standpoint 
too  lovely  for  words.  "What  I  mean,"  he  said,  "is 
that  I  wish  that  married  couples  would  keep  their 
quarrels  and  their  kisses  to  their  own  room.  I  think 
it 's  bad  taste  to  parade  either  in  public.  If  they  only 


LEFT  TOGETHER  155 

kissed  it  would  be  silly  enough,  but  to  kiss  and  quarrel 
before  people  is  downright  idiotic." 

"  I  've  never  seen  them  k-kissing,"  said  Grace, 
intending  no  innuendo.  "Oh,  isn't  it  pretty  here? 
I  think  Dichtenberg  is  prettier  than  Switzerland, 
don't  you?" 

"Have  you  ever  been  in  Switzerland?" 

" Not  yet.   Have  you?  "   She  was  altogether  girlish. 

"Yes,  I  've  been  everywhere." 

"  Oh ! "  She  looked  up  at  him  and  opened  her  eyes 
widely.  "  How  nice ! "  she  said  then,  with  additional 
girlishness. 

Belden  was  falling  more  and  more  in  love.  She 
was  so  sweet  and  unsophisticated.  And  how  domestic 
she  had  looked,  folding  that  tea-cloth  —  so  careful  to 
get  it  in  the  right  folds,  too ! 

"Which  shall  we  take?"  he  asked,  pausing  where 
the  Salder,  Dichtenberg,  and  Oelber  ways  all  came 
together. 

"I  don't  care  a  bit  —  not  a  bit." 

"Let 's  go  down  towards  Schloss  Oelber;  then  we 
can  see  the  sun  set." 

"That  will  be  lovely.    I  love  to  watch  the  sun  set." 

They  set  out  towards  Oelber. 

"I  should  like  to  own  a  country  place  of  my  own," 
Belden  said. 

The  blood  rushed  to  Grace's  face;  she  felt  this  to 
be  almost  too  terribly  pointed. 


156        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Wh- where  would  you  like  to  have  it?"  she 
asked,  faintly. 

"  I  would  n't  care.  I  'd  like  it  as  well  here  as  any- 
where. This  is  a  pretty  country." 

"  Yes,  and  there  's  game,  too ! " 

Belden  was  astonished  at  how  acutely  she  under- 
stood masculine  nature.  He  had  n't  expected  that 
of  her. 

"I  suppose  that  there  is  some  way  ot  buying  shoot- 
ing rights,"  he  said. 

"You  could  shoot  rabbits,  anyway,"  said  Grace. 
"They're  glad  to  have  any  one  shoot  rabbits  any- 
where." 

Belden  did  n't  think  that  so  very  bright  of  her, 
but  it  showed  how  simple  and  untrained  was  her  na- 
ture. Mrs.  Ellerslie  would  never  have  said  such  a 
thing.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  clever,  perhaps  too  clever. 

"Pretty  view  ahead,"  he  said. 

"It's  beautiful.  Those  trees  and  then  the  grass. 
I  love  to  be  hi  the  country.  I  love  trees  —  and  grass, 
too,  of  course." 

"Have  you  ever  lived  in  the  country?" 

"Five  months  twice." 

"Then  you  know  all  about  it." 

She  felt  overwhelmed  at  his  praise  and  turned 
deep  crimson.  "I  —  I  know  a  little  about  it,"  she 
faltered.  "Oh,  there's  a  rabbit!" 

"I  wonder  where  those  two  did  really  walk  to," 


LEFT  TOGETHER  157 

said  Belden.  "Don't  you  think  it  seems  queer,  their 
going  off  and  staying  off  like  that?" 

"  Yes,  I  think  it 's  queer.  But  no  one  was  fright- 
ened." 

"There  was  nothing  to  be  frightened  over,  but  I 
do  think  that  it  was  queer.  I  '11  be  curious  to  hear 
what  they  did  do  when  we  get  back." 

"Do  you  want  to  go  back  right  now?  " 

"You  witch!  No,  I  don't  want  to  go  back  right 
now." 

Grace  felt  the  blood  thrill  to  her  finger-tips;  no 
man  had  ever  called  her  a  witch  before.  She  looked 
down  at  the  ground.  "There  's  one  of  those  big  red 
snails,"  she  said,  faintly. 

"Yes,  aren't  they  curious?  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  study  snails,  would  n't  it?"  He  thought  that 
it  really  would  be,  as  he  spoke  the  words. 

"  I  'd  like  to  study  mushrooms."  She  did  n't  want 
to  contradict  him,  but  she  felt  that  they  could  never 
agree  on  snails.  "There  are  so  many  mushrooms  hi 
these  woods,  and  it 's  nice  to  know  which  are  poison- 
ous if  you  mean  to  eat  them.  Oh,  there  's  another 
rabbit." 

"I'll  send  and  get  you  a  book,"  Belden  said, — 
"about  mushrooms,  you  know." 

"Wouldn't  that  be  interesting?  We  could  take 
it  into  the  woods  and  compare  it  with  the  mush- 
rooms." 


158        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"It  would  be  great  sport,"  said  the  man,  with 
conviction.  "I'll  write  for  one  to-night." 

"But  we  have  n't  so  very  much  longer  here,"  said 
the  girl,  suddenly.  "You  must  get  it  right  off." 

Belden  liked  the  suggestiveness  of  her  "must" 
immensely.  "I  didn't  know  that  there  was  any 
limit  set  for  our  stay  here,"  he  said. 

"Cousin  Lizzie  wrote  me  that  she  would  be  here 
for  a  fortnight ;  of  course,  I  've  got  to  go  when  she 
does." 

"Well,  of  course,  I  'm  not  going  to  stay  after  you 
go,"  said  Belden.  He  did  n't  mean  anything  except 
just  exactly  what  he  said,  but  Grace  blushed  furiously. 

"It  will  be  very  hard  to  go,"  she  said,  "the  —  the 
woods  are  so  pretty  here."  She  blushed  more,  noted 
another  rabbit,  but  found  speech  too  difficult  and  let 
it  hop  off  unremarked. 

"There,  that 's  Oelber  down  there,"  said  Belden, 
pointing.  "You  can  just  see  the  tower  of  the  castle." 

She  had  to  pull  herself  together. 

"Is  there  a  castle  there?    Is  it  as  old  as  ours?" 

"I  don't  know.  Nobody  knows  how  old  ours  is, 
you  know.  This  valley's  beautiful,  isn't  it?"  He 
looked  at  her. 

"Yes,  it's  lovely.  I  do  love  the  country.  Oh, 
I  've  got  a  bit  of  gravel  in  my  shoe ! "  How  she 
blessed  that  diversion  from  such  trying  personalities ! 

"Can  I  get  it  out  for  you?"    (Oh,  heavens!) 


LEFT  TOGETHER  159 

"The  very  idea !  Just  —  just  —  walk  on  a  little," 
she  said,  unable  to  look  up. 

He  strolled  on.  Wide  brown  fields  stretched  to 
the  right  and  left,  and  the  peasants  were  plowing, 
the  teams  of  big  white  and  yellow  oxen  being  dotted 
all  over  the  fields.  Some  wagons  marked  Domane 
Dichtenberg  stood  by  the  side  of  the  road,  and  down 
by  the  gram  stacks  in  the  hollow  the  Verwalter  was 
slowly  going  along  on  his  handsome  horse. 

"There,  I've  got  it  out,"  Grace  said,  overtaking 
him;  "gravel  in  one's  shoe  is  so  annoying." 

"You  ought  to  wear  high  shoes  in  the  country," 
said  Belden ;  "if  you  belonged  to  me  I  'd  see  that  you 
did  it,  too." 

"  If  she  belonged  to  him ! "  The  young  girl  felt  as 
if  the  sky  had  opened  and  poured  a  rain  of  finely 
pulverized  electricity  right  down  upon  her  head.  "  If 
she  belonged  to  him ! "  She  could  not  speak.  She 
was  beginning  to  wonder,  —  oh,  but  how  she  was 
beginning  to  wonder ! 

Along  towards  half-past  six  they  got  back  to  the 
house. 

"Now  we  '11  find  out  what  those  two  really  did  do," 
Belden  exclaimed,  as  they  descended  the  road. 

They  soon  knew  all. 

Every  one  but  the  cook  was  up  at  the  castle,  and 
the  cook  was  standing  on  a  chair  in  the  kitchen 
window,  looking  that  way. 


160        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Oh,  gracious  sir,"  she  cried,  when  she  saw  Bel- 
den,  "the  young  one  from  the  Gasthof  above  is  already 
here  at  six  o'clock  and  has  carried  every  one  back 
with  him.  The  two  gracious  ladies  sit  above  in  the 
Burgverliess!  The  two  gracious  ladies  sit  already 
long  in  the  Burgverliess." 


CHAPTER  XII 

TO  ARMS  AGAIN 

THE  rescue  was  harrowing  in  the  extreme,  and  there 
was  some  reason  to  fear  the  arrest  of  both  victims 
for  having  pried  a  locked  trap-door  open.  It  seemed, 
too,  that  there  was  a  sign  up  forbidding  any  one  to 
wander  recklessly  over  the  ruins,  so  they  had  really 
broken  two  laws  at  one  fell  swoop.  The  Wirt  of  the 
Gasthof  had  to  be  liberally  recompensed,  as  it  was 
his  small  boy  who  had  been  called  above  by  a  gentle- 
man and  a  red-haired  lady  strolling  hi  the  woods,  and 
asked  if  he  did  n't  hear  certain  feeble  screams  which 
they  fancied  that  they  heard  also.  The  screams  and 
the  boy  had  been  great  factors  in  the  happy  finale, 
and  also  it  was  the  Wirt  himself  who  had  actually  had 
to  carry  Mrs.  Ellerslie  up  the  ladder  that  was  too  long, 
and  had  had  to  be  fetched  from  the  Domane  after  all. 
The  group  around  the  hole  during  the  fetching  may 
be  imagined. 

Ellerslie  was  furious  with  his  wife  and  every  one 
else.  Dunn  was  dreadfully  worked  up,  but  thought 
Elizabeth  ought  to  have  known  better  than  to  take 
such  chances  at  her  age.  Bobby  wailed  horribly ;  he 
was  frankly,  unfeignedly  frightened  over  his  mother. 

11 


162        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

Belden  worked  like  a  hero,  rushing  to  the  Domane 
for  a  ladder,  and  assisting  in  its  progress  up  the 
Burgberg.  Grace  stood  by  in  the  dark,  and  shivered 
and  quivered  with  every  emotion  known.  To  her  the 
accident  was  pure,  unalloyed  tragedy. 

About  nine  o'clock  all  was  over,  and  both  women 
in  their  own  respective  beds,  Mrs.  Ellerslie  hugging 
Mrs.  Dunn's  hot-water  bottle.  Grace  had  to  give  up 
all  thought  of  her  own  frail  constitution  and  attend 
two  spirit  lamps  with  an  activity  worthy  all  the 
Vestal  Virgins  combined.  Belden  was  unable  to  help 
her,  as  neither  of  the  married  ladies  could  forget  that 
it  was  his  cane  that  had  led  them  so  far  upon  the 
downward  path  to  Avernus. 

"I  never  shall  get  warm  again  in  this  world," 
Mrs.  Ellerslie  sobbed.  "Oh,  my  dear,  do  boil  some 
more  water  and  fill  this  fresh.  It  gets  cold  so  quick, 
and  I  don't  get  warm  at  all." 

Grace  lit  the  spirit  lamp.  "  You  '11  feel  better  after 
you  have  something  to  eat,"  she  said.  "Only  think 
if  we  had  n't  found  you  all  night.  Oh ! " 

"I'd  have  been  dead,"  wailed  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "I 
fully  expected  to  die  down  there.  I  don't  see  how 
we  ever  came  to  come  here.  It 's  so  uncivilized  to 
be  able  to  fall  into  a  dungeon.  Oh,  my  head !" 

She  really  was  an  object  of  sympathy.  Only  El- 
lerslie did  n't  see  it  that  way.  "Just  as  soon  as  you 
can  stand  up,  we  're  going  to  leave,"  he  observed  sav- 


TO  ARMS  AGAIN  163 

agely,  surveying  her  from  the  foot  of  the  bed  while 
Grace  was  away  hunting  a  pocket-handkerchief  for 
the  other  invalid.  "The  very  idea!  A  ladder 
indeed ! " 

"Don't  scold  me,"  cried  his  wife,  "you're  always 
so  cruel !  I  don't  know  what  I  ever  married  you 
for !  And  maybe  I  'm  going  to  die !  And  think  of 
how  happy  we  were  in  Salder  only  this  morning!" 

Salder  softened  Ellerslie  suddenly.  He  came  around 
and  sat  down  on  the  bed  beside  her  and  started  to  — 
no  one  ever  knew  what  he  started  to  do  —  for  before 
he  had  even  begun  it  appeared  that  he  had  inadver- 
tently landed  on  the  hot-water  bag,  which  promptly 
burst. 

The  results  were  almost  as  trying  as  the  Burg- 
verliess.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  on  the  only  high-necked 
nightgown  which  she  owned,  and  now,  while  Grace 
was  pulling  the  bed  to  pieces  and  draining  the  mat- 
tress into  the  slop- jar,  the  invalided  lady  had  to  don 
a  decollete  gown  with  the  jacket  of  her  husband's 
pajamas.  There  was  something  in  the  way  that  she 
looked  in  the  glass  that  just  about  finished  Mrs. 
Ellerslie.  She  began  to  cry  and  there  was  n't  a  soul 
to  see,  which  was  the  worst  of  all.  Grace  was  down 
asking  for  bedding  for  the  soaked  bed,  and  Ellerslie 
was  wringing  out  his  white  flannel  trousers  in  Belden's 
room,  for  this  was  one  of  those  hours  of  stress  which 
are  popularly  supposed  to  bring  people  together 


164        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

again,  no  matter  what  previous  things  they  may 
have  differed  over. 

"Oh,  my  dear,  what  am  I  going  to  do  without  that 
hot-water  bag?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  wailed  to  Grace  as 
soon  as  she  returned.  She  was  getting  into  her  hus- 
band's bed.  "Oh,  I'm  so  cold  again!  This  will 
kill  me.  I  know  that  this  will  kill  me." 

Mrs.  Dunn  felt  terribly  over  the  bag,  too.  "What 
shall  I  do?"  she  said,  appealing  to  Grace  as  soon  as 
the  girl  got  in  there  to  get  her  some  tea.  "I  never 
move  without  one." 

"They're  so  convenient,"  said  Grace.  "I  don't 
know  what  I  'd  have  done  without  yours  here.  It 's 
been  such  a  comfort.  Why,  Cousin  Lizzie,  there  's  no 
more  tea  in  the  caddy !" 

"No  more  tea!  How  much  did  you  use  this 
afternoon?" 

"I  don't  know.  Mr.  Belden  put  the  tea  in  the 
pot." 

"Oh,  Grace,  he  must  have  turned  the  caddy  up- 
side down.  Whatever  made  you  let  him  help?" 

"I  don't  know,  Cousin  Lizzie;  he  was  here  and 
he  wanted  to.  Haven't  you  any  more  anywhere?" 

"Not  a  bit.  I  wrote  this  morning  to  Brunswick 
for  some  more,  but  it  can't  possibly  get  here  till 
to-morrow." 

"I  'm  so  sorry,"  said  Grace. 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  silent.    She  felt  very  ill  and  terribly 


TO  ARMS  AGAIN  165 

tried.  As  I  hinted  before,  time  of  stress  rarely  does 
produce  idyllic  sweetness  of  disposition  in  the  stressed. 

Minna  brought  up  soup  later  and  asked  if  either 
lady  wanted  beer.  Neither  wanted  beer.  Dunn  un- 
dertook to  put  Bobby  to  bed  later  yet,  but  Bobby, 
too,  was  out  of  sorts. 

"I  want  to  sleep  with  Mamma,"  he  said;  "my 
throat 's  sore." 

If  there  is  anything  that  frightens  the  parents  of 
an  only  child,  it 's  to  have  the  child  mention  that 
his  or  her  throat  is  sore.  Dunn  could  n't  get  into 
the  next  room  quick  enough. 

"Bobby's  throat 's  sore!"  he  announced. 

Mrs.  Dunn  gave  a  start  and  then  a  groan,  got 
stiffly  up  and  looked  for  her  slippers. 

"I  saw  them  in  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  room,"  said  Grace, 
helpfully,  and  ran  to  get  them,  but  failed  to  find 
them. 

His  mother  had  Bobby  gargle  with  carbolic  acid 
in  the  water.  "Is  it  very  sore?"  she  asked. 

"  'T  ain't  sore  at  all,"  said  Bobby.  "I  just  wanted 
a  chance  to  speak  to  you  alone,  and  ask  you  if  I  can 
go  barefoot  to-morrow." 

Mrs.  Dunn  clasped  her  hands  tightly  together. 
"We'll  see,  dear,"  she  said,  with  rare  self-control, 
and  went  back  to  bed.  Later  in  the  night  Dunn, 
getting  up  to  draw  the  shades  which  he  had  neglected 
to  do  because  his  wife  had  always  done  it  heretofore, 


166        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

stepped  on  a  thumb-tack,  but  that  was  muck  later 
in  the  night. 

"What  have  you  done?"  his  wife  asked,  feebly 
waking  up  to  his  remarks. 

"I  don't  know.    Where  are  the  matches?" 

"I  don't  know  Oh,  yes,  I  do.  I  gave  the  last 
box  to  Will." 

There  was  a  frightful  hush. 

"And  he  talks  about  the  Ellerslies'  borrowing,  does 
he!" 

Silence. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

AND  SO   FORTH 

THE  donkey-wagon  arrived  safely.  The  only  thing 
wrong  about  it  was  that  it  was  made  for  a  pair  of 
goats,  and  so  could  not  be  used  immediately  for  a 
single  donkey.  This  was  hard  on  Bobby,  but  his 
mother  was  able  to  sit  up,  so  he  was  beguiled  into 
a  species  of  patience. 

Ellerslie  had  made  up  with  his  wife  again. 

"I  can't  stand  it."  Belden,  coming  in  to  ask  Mrs. 
Dunn  how  she  felt,  made  this  statement.  "The  way 
he  spoke  to  her  that  night  when  she  came  up  out  of 
that  hole  with  her  arms  around  the  man  at  the 
Gasthof's  neck  —  and  then  to-day  at  dinner ! " 

Mrs.  Dunn  sighed  wearily.  The  tea  had  n't  yet 
come.  "You  must  be  patient,"  she  said;  "perhaps 
something  good  will  come  out  of  this  in  the  end." 

Belden  felt  compassionate.  "Grace  and  I"  —  it 
was  "Grace"  by  this  time  —  "are  going  up  to  the 
castle  to  see  the  well ;  the  man  was  telling  me  about 
it  last  night." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  wearily.  "Tell 
Grace  if  she  wants  my  cape  to  wear  to  ask  Nellie  for 


168        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

it.  I  had  to  give  it  to  her  when  we  were  down  in  that 
hole.  Oh,  what  an  experience !" 

"Didn't  you  need  it  yourself?"   Belden  asked. 

Mrs.  Dunn  looked  out  of  the  window.  "I  need  a 
good  many  things  myself,"  she  said,  sadly;  "that's 
why  I  carry  them  with  me."  It  was  plain  that  her 
mind  had  reverted  to  the  hot-water  bag. 

"Mamma,"  said  Bobby,  running  in,  "if  you  hitched 
the  donkey  one  side  of  the  stick,  would  n't  the  wagon 
pull?" 

Belden  departed. 

Grace  was  standing  at  the  hall  window,  looking 
out.  The  doctor's  dog  had  just  bitten  another  child, 
and  the  doctor  was  energetically  to  the  fore  in  the 
court  below. 

She  turned  when  she  heard  the  step  behind  her. 

"Such  a  lovely  day,"  she  said,  sweetly. 

"Yes,  and  we  have  a  good  hour  and  a  half 
ahead  of  us  to  enjoy  before  dinner,"  said  Belden; 
"come." 

They  started  towards  the  stairs,  and,  just  as  they 
came  abreast  of  the  Ellerslie  door,  the  Ellerslie  door 
opened  and  the  Ellerslies,  attired  for  walking,  came 
out,  all  smiles. 

Grace  was  disappointed,  but  could  n't  help  looking 
pretty,  anyway ;  Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  always  pretty  and 
now  radiant  into  the  bargain. 

"  Oh,  what  fun ! "  she  said ;  "  where  are  you  going?  " 


AND  SO  FORTH  169 

Belden  threw  a  despairing  look  at  Grace.  "Up  to 
the  castle,"  he  said,  hopelessly. 

"We'll  go  with  you,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  "unless 
perhaps  you  don't  want  us."  She  looked  archly  at 
them  both.  "  If  you  don't  want  us,  you  only  have  to 
say  so,  you  know." 

When  people  want  to  be  alone  there  is  nothing  that 
affects  them  like  the  fear  of  showing  it. 

"  Oh,  you  know  I  never  can  see  too  much  of  you," 
said  Belden,  making  up  his  mind  to  get  even  with 
her  at  any  cost,  and  he  straightway  grabbed  her  by 
the  elbow  and  hustled  her  down-stairs  in  short  order. 

"Oh,  do  be  careful.  Don't  let  Frank  see!"  she 
whispered  hurriedly,  thrilling  with  delight.  "Let's 
walk  fast  and  get  quite  a  bit  ahead.  I've  a  million 
things  to  say  to  you." 

Belden  walked  as  fast  as  she  liked.  "Tell  me  all 
about  everything,"  he  said,  as  they  plunged  wildly 
up  the  castle-path.  "He's  been  so  tigerish  I  thought 
I'd  better  not  put  my  head  in  his  mouth  for  a  while. 
I  knew  you'd  understand.  You  know  you  always 
understand,"  he  added,  pressing  her  arm  in  a  way 
that  he  meant  should  hurt  and  which  did  hurt. 

"Oh,  Will,  do  be  careful.  Men  never  quite  realize 
how  strong  they  are,  and  I  turn  black  and  blue  so 
easy,  too.  Understand!  Of  course  I  understand. 
I  always  understand."  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  whose  strong 
point  was  that  she  really  thought  that  she  did  always 


170        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

understand,  looked  up  in  his  face  again  now  and  smiled 
winningly.  She  had  the  prettiest  teeth  in  the  world 
and  knew  it.  What  she  did  n't  know  was  that  they 
were  so  beautiful  and  so  even  that  Belden  never  for 
one  minute  supposed  that  they  were  her  own.  "And 
now,  do  go  on  with  all  you've  got  to  tell  me.  You've 
been  ever  so  much  more  careful  than  was  necessary; 
Frank 's  so  often  out  walking." 

"Yes,  but  he's  so  dreadfully  given  to  coming  back. 
I  never  saw  a  man  like  him." 

"  I  know.  You  're  just  right  about  him,"  —  she 
looked  serious  and  injured,  —  "but  what  can  I  do, 
Will?  I  can't  help  his  coming  back." 

"Oh,  you're  helpless  in  the  case,"  said  Belden; 
"as  long  as  he  pays  his  bills  I  suppose  any  man 
can  keep  on  returning  to  any  hotel.  But  it  is 
hard." 

"If  it's  hard  for  you  think  what  it  must  be  for 
me,"  said  the  wife.  "Oh,  and  then,  that  night !  Has 
any  one  told  you  about  that  night?" 

"Who  should  tell  me?  You  two  have  your  room 
alone  to  yourselves,  don't  you?  Wliat  night?" 

"Well,  it's  just  between  ourselves,  you  know,  but, 
you  see,  he  came  to  sit  beside  me  —  he 's  my  husband, 
you  know,  so  I  can't  help  his  sitting  beside  me  when 
he  likes  —  and  that  wretched  old  hot-water  bag  of 
Lizzie's  burst,  and  half  drowned  us  both." 

"Dear  me !"  said  Will  Belden. 


AND  SO  FORTH  171 

"  I  should  say  so.  Such  a  mess !  And  Frank  was 
furious.  He  stayed  mad  for  hours." 

"He  ought  to  have  been  too  happy  for  words  over 
your  getting  safely  out  of  that  scrape." 

"Yes,  wouldn't  one  think  so?  And  I  ran  such  a 
chance  of  taking  cold,  too ;  Lizzie  had  on  that  thick 
cape  she's  so  devoted  to,  but  I  had  nothing." 

Belden  looked  away  and  smiled. 

"  Do  give  me  your  arm,  Will,  I  'm  so  out  of  breath." 

" I'm  afraid  he ''11  see." 

"Nonsense,  that  girl  will  take  care  to  keep  him  as 
much  to  herself  as  she  can.  Did  you  ever  see  such 
an  assumption  of  rampant  simplicity  in  all  your  life?" 

"I  think  Miss  Waters  most  charming,"  said  the 
man,  very  distinctly.  Of  all  things  in  the  world  what 
he  least  desired  was  to  mention  Grace  in  any  conver- 
sation with  Mrs.  Ellerslie. 

"Yes,  of  course  she's  charming;  but  you  must 
admit  that  she  knows  it  much  too  well.  When  a 
woman  is  older  she's  bound  to  be  aware  of  her  good 
points,  but  don't  you  think  modesty  ought  to  be  the 
first  duty  of  a  girl?  I  do." 

He  made  no  answer.  He  had  not  given  her  his  arm, 
but  she  took  it  herself  now  and  bore  heavily  on  it. 
"Oh,  Will,  she  isn't  deceiving  you,  is  she?  You 
are  n't  letting  yourself  be  taken  in?  I  can't  bear  to 
think  that." 

Then  all  of  a  sudden  he  felt  most  fearfully  disgusted. 


172        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Don't  let  us  talk  about  her." 

"I  see  your  danger  so  plainly.  Off  alone  like  this 
for  so  long  —  why,  a  girl  who  wore  a  wig,  a  girl 
who  had  n't  any  hair  at  all,  would  be  able  to  —  able 
to  —  " 

"Don't  say  any  more  on  that  subject." 

She  looked  up  at  him.  "  Don't  throw  yourself 
away  hastily.  That's  all  I  ask." 

"Please  say  no  more." 

"But  I  can't  stand  by  and  see  your  heart  broken 
by  a  girl  like  that."  She  was  clinging  fast  to  his  arm 
now.  "  Oh,  Will,  you  know  all  you  've  been  to  me  and 
all  you  are  to  me,  but,  believe  me,  it  isn't  jealousy; 
it 's  love  —  real,  warm,  tender  love  —  love  like  —  like 
—  well,  not  just  like  a  sister's,  maybe,  but  —  ' 

He  stopped  and  looked  down  into  her  face.  When 
she  got  to  talking  earnestly  she  frequently  wrought 
herself  up  to  the  point  of  being  almost  in  earnest. 
It 's  a  fearful  thing  to  have  the  gift  of  being  sufficiently 
eloquent  to  be  able  to  fool  oneself.  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
possessed  the  power  in  full. 

"Why  do  you  keep  talking  when  I  ask  you  to  leave 
it  alone?"  Belden  asked,  real  severity  in  his  tone. 

She  quite  started ;  she  had  n't  expected  that.  He 
took  her  hand  and  unclasped  it  and  put  her  away 
from  him.  "Don't  ever  speak  to  me  about  Miss 
Waters  again,"  he  said  then,  with  still  strength. 
"Do  you  hear?  I  won't  stand  it  even  from  you.  This 


AND  SO  FORTH  173 

is  final.  I  mean  every  word  of  it."  He  walked  on  as 
he  finished. 

"But,  Will  —  " 

"Hush !  I  won't  hear  another  word." 

11  But  —  " 

She  looked  up  at  him.  Fright,  a  fearful  sensation 
of  having  overreached  her  aim,  filled  her.  For  the 
space  of  a  few  seconds  she  absolutely  did  n't  know 
what  to  do  or  to  say.  Then  the  tears  which  some 
women  have  so  ready  in  every  emergency  rose  up 
and  flowed  down  her  cheeks.  She  lifted  her  sweet 
wet  eyes  up  to  Belden,  and  he  glared  savagely  into 
them.  The  tears  did  n't  affect  him  one  bit.  It  was 
no  use.  Wiping  them  away  with  the  childish  gesture 
she  kept  for  her  mightiest  minutes,  she  turned  and 
walked  straight  back  to  her  husband.  Belden  looked 
after  her  for  a  second.  Then  he  looked  down  at  the 
ground  and  waited. 

Ellerslie  and  Grace  were  just  rounding  the  last  bend 
in  the  path  when  the  former  saw  his  wife  approach- 
ing. Of  course  he  was  n't  pleased,  because  he  was 
having  a  lovely  time  telling  Grace  in  most  general 
terms  what  a  devil  he  had  been  before  he  had  mar- 
ried. No  man  who  is  just  deep  hi  the  joy  of  paint- 
ing himself  black  and  brimstone  to  a  young  girl  ever 
yet  wanted  his  wedded  wife  to  come  running  up  in 
tears. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  he  asked,  overlaying  his  vex- 


174        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

ation  with  a  painfully  thin  coat  of  solicitude,  "have 
you  and  Belden  fallen  out?" 

"F-Frank,"  her  voice  shook  with  feeling,  "let  me 
walk  with  —  w-with  —  you.  Miss  Waters,  will  you 
—  please  walk  with  Mr.  Belden?  I  —  I  —  I  want  to 
be  alone  with  my  husband." 

Grace  walked  quickly  on  and  joined  the  man  ahead, 
but  Belden  did  not  return  and  retrace  his  way;  he 
did  not  even  speak  to  her,  just  turned  her  out  of  the 
path  and  across  the  hillside.  She  went  with  him,  not 
understanding  any  of  it,  but  obeying  her  feeling  that 
she  must.  The  minute  after  they  were  out  of  sight. 

"And  now  will  you  kindly  tell  me  what  under  the 
sun  this  all  means?"  Ellerslie  asked  his  wife.  His 
tone  was  very  savage,  so  savage  that  she  took  refuge 
in  a  more  prolific  downpour. 

"I'm  never  going  to  tell,"  she  sobbed,  "I'm  never 
going  to  tell.  You  can  ask  me  a  million  times  and 
I '11  never  tell." 

There  was  nothing  hi  Ellerslie  to  stand  for  a  re- 
mark like  that;  he  turned  abruptly.  "I'll  go  right 
down  to  the  hotel  and  get  my  pistol  and  shoot  him 
dead  on  the  spot,"  he  vowed,  trying  to  remember 
whether  he  had  a  pistol  with  him  or  not. 

This  was  ever  so  much  more  than  his  wife  had 
bargained  for;  she  felt  with  a  heavy  heart  that  here 
was  another  man  suddenly  declaring  his  independ- 
ence. It  seemed  too  cruel  how  every  one  was  turning 


AND  SO  FORTH  175 

against  her  to-day.  However,  Frank  being  Frank, 
she  must  face  him  bravely.  To  that  end  she  stopped 
shedding  tears  at  once  and  stopped  shaking  her  voice 
too.  "Oh,  no,  no,"  she  exclaimed,  with  sincere 
appeal,  "it  wasn't  that.  I  didn't  mean  what  you 
think  he  meant.  It's  just  that  I  think  he's  in  love 
with  that  girl." 

The  effect  of  these  words  may  be  easier  imagined 
than  described.  His  jealous  fury  choked  him  purple. 
"Helen,"  he  said,  "you're  the  darnedest  idiot  I  ever 
saw.  If  you  ever  speak  to  Belden  again,  I'll  — 
I  '11  -  '  He  stopped,  having  no  serviceable  threat 
at  hand,  took  her  very  hard  by  the  arm,  marched 
her  down  the  hill,  into  the  Gasthof,  up-stairs  and  into 
their  room,  banged  the  door,  and  locked  it. 

"Oh,  did  you  hear  that?"  Mrs.  Dunn  moaned  to 
her  husband.  "They've  had  another  row,  I  know. 
Why  didn't  you  go  in  and  get  my  cape  and  the 
Baedeker  of  Northern  Germany  when  I  asked  you  to, 
dear?  You  can't  interrupt  them  now." 

"They'll  be  all  over  it  by  dinner-tune,"  said  Dunn. 
He  was  playing  cat's-cradle  with  Bobby  while  his 
wife  sewed  a  button  on  his  vest.  "Don't  let  the 
thread  show  on  the  back,"  he  cautioned,  frowning 
over  the  care  requisite  for  the  next  move. 

"Papa,"  said  Bobby,  "you  said  you'd  take  me 
up  on  top  of  that  tower  some  night.  Can  we  go 
to-night?" 


176        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Not  to-night,  Bobby.  Papa  said  he'd  take  you 
when  there  was  a  moon." 

"What  does  the  moon  matter?  I've  seen  lots  of 
moons." 

"You  mustn't  tease,  Bobby.  Papa  never  does 
anything  when  you  tease.  You  know  that." 

Mrs.  Dunn  drew  a  long  breath  and  cut  off  her 
thread. 

"I  thought  that  you  were  going  to  sneeze  when 
you  did  that,  Mamma,"  said  Bobby,  rocking  the 
cat's-cradle. 

"It's  cold  enough  here  to  sneeze,  anyway,"  said 
Dunn.  "What  possessed  you  to  give  the  Ellerslies 
the  sunny  room,  Lizzie?" 

"I  liked  the  view,"  said  the  poor  woman. 

Bobby  went  to  the  window.  "There's  such  lots 
of  view,"  he  said,  "such  lots  and  lots  of  view  —  only 
there's  nothing  to  see." 

"By  George,  Bobby,  you  hit  that  nail  on  the  head," 
said  his  father. 

Cat's-cradle  in  silence  for  ten  seconds. 

"Papa,"  said  Bobby,  "do  you  really  wish  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  was  Mamma?" 

"Don't  ask  silly  questions,  Bobby,"  said  his  mother, 
serenely.  Mrs.  Dunn  was  not  of  a  jealous  tempera- 
ment, as  has  been  stated  before. 

"Well,  they  talk  about  it  out  walking,"  said  Bobby. 
"  I  like  to  go  walking  here.  Every  one  talks  so  funny. 


AND  SO  FORTH  177 

When  we  sit  down  Mrs.  Ellerslie  always  says  'Keep 
to  your  own  tree/  just  like  Pussy-in-the-corner." 

Mrs.  Dunn  glanced  at  her  husband. 

Dunn's  back  was  most  emphatically  towards  his 
wife.  She  wondered  what  Bobby's  papa  was  going 
to  say  to  what  Bobby  had  just  said.  But  Bobby's 
papa  said  nothing  at  all.  Bobby's  papa  was  n't  sure 
if  he  said  anything  to  Bobby  what  Bobby  might 
answer,  so  Bobby's  papa  kept  still. 

Mrs.  Dunn  continued  to  look  at  her  husband,  until 
all  of  a  sudden  she  realized  what  she  was  doing  and 
how  long  she  had  been  doing  it.  Then  she  turned  her 
eyes  quickly  away.  "How  silly  of  me !"  she  thought, 
quite  ashamed  of  herself.  "Why,  I'm  never  silly." 

And  she  spoke  the  truth. 


12 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   OVERTURNING  WORM 

"I'M  so  mad,"  said  Belden,  savagely,  as  he  tramped 
southeast  through  the  dead  leaves,  with  Grace  follow- 
ing him.  "Oh,  I'm  mad!  I  don't  believe  I've  been 
as  mad  in  years  as  I  am  right  now." 

"Do  look  out,"  Grace  pleaded;  "there  are  little 
young  evergreens  planted  all  over  here.  You'll 
break  them." 

"I  don't  care  what  I  break,"  said  Belden.  "I  wish 
I  had  a  big  knotted  stick  and  could  brain  Ellerslie 
with  a  swing  to  the  right  and  his  wife  with  a  swing 
to  the  left.  Then  maybe  we'd  have  some  peace  on 
earth  and  good- will  here  in  Dichtenberg." 

"Do  be  careful  of  the  little  evergreens,"  the  girl 
implored. 

"I  wonder,"  said  Belden,  stopping  short  and  look- 
ing her  directly  in  the  face,  —  "I  wonder  if  you're 
going  to  be  just  like  other  women  when  you  marry. 
Shall  you  be  a  good  wife  and  mother  and  just  as 
conscientiously  plain  as  you  can  possibly  manage, 
like  Dunn's  wife,  or  shall  you  go  for  other  men  and 
go  for  other  women,  like  Nellie  Ellerslie?  I  wonder!" 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  179 

"I  don't  know,"  said  the  girl.  For  a  minute 
her  face  was  downcast  and  hesitating;  then  sud- 
denly she  raised  her  eyes  to  his,  and  hi  them  was 
that  bursting  forth  of  light  which  presages  the  change 
from  girlhood's  dawn  to  woman's  sunrise.  "I  don't 
know,"  she  repeated,  "truly  I  don't;  nobody  ever 
knows  just  what  they  are  growing  into,  but  —  don't 
you  think  I  'm  getting  some  big  lessons  these  days?" 

"But  are  you  taking  them  to  heart?"  said  the 
man.  "Are  they  just  amusing  you,  or  are  they  sink- 
ing in  deep?  Tell  me."  There  was  a  tremendous 
call  of  frankness  and  to  frankness  hi  his  voice. 

She  returned  his  look  with  an  equal  sincerity. 
"  I  'm  trying,"  she  said,  and  said  no  more. 

They  went  on,  and  there  was  silence  —  a  si- 
lence that  lasted  until  suddenly  the  man  broke 
forth  again.  "I  never  supposed  that  I  had  such  a 
temper  as  I  find  I  've  got  right  now.  I  'd  like  to 
know  whether  in  God's  eyes  there  's  any  worth  at 
all  hi  the  love  that  leaves  a  woman  wild  for  the 
attention  of  other  men." 

"But  he  's  quite  as  anxious  for  the  attentions  of 
women  as  she  is  for  men,"  observed  the  girl,  quietly. 

Belden  stopped  and  looked  at  her  in  startled 
wonder.  He  had  n't  expected  that  speech  from  her 
lips.  "What,  have  you  noticed?"  he  said. 

"Yes,  I 've  noticed." 

Belden  saw  that  she  had  a  lot  to  her  that  he  had 


180        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

never  suspected;  it  made  him  wonder  how  much 
more  worldly  wisdom  she  might  be  holding  back. 
There  was  silence  for  a  little. 

"Shall  we  go  up  to  the  castle  and  see  the  well?" 
Grace  asked  finally.  "There's  still  over  an  hour 
before  lunch,  and  Mrs.  Dunn  would  be  so  pleased  if 
anybody  took  an  interest." 

"I  don't  believe  that  it's  worth  the  trouble." 
Belden  felt  his  own  bad  temper  keenly. 

"Oh,  but  please,"  she  pleaded. 

"Well,  if  you  want  to,"  he  said,  somewhat 
ashamed. 

They  turned  up  the  path,  and  as  they  turned  a  little 
fawn  appeared  a  half-dozen  rods  above  and  halted 
and  looked  at  them  —  not  exactly  in  fear,  rather  in 
startled  curiosity.  Grace  suddenly  laid  her  hand  on 
Belden's  in  speechless  behest  against  movement,  and 
his  fingers  closed  over  hers.  It  was  a  strange  minute, 
for  neither  seemed  to  just  realize  anything  except  that 
they  stood  still  until  the  pretty  little  creature  had 
finished  its  scrutiny  and  trotted  daintily  on.  Then 
the  girl  blushed  her  deepest,  most  vivid  blush,  and 
withdrew  her  fingers  from  his.  He  let  them  go 
unwillingly,  but  he  let  them  go. 

"Life  hi  the  woods  is  very  good,"  she  said,  quickly, 
painfully,  feeling  the  need  of  speech  and  not  know- 
ing what  to  say.  "  It  —  it  always  —  it  always  seems 
to  me  that  human  passions  are  out  of  place  here. 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  181 

The  trees  are  so  big  and  quiet,  and  everything  else  is 
so  hushed  and  reverent." 

He  looked  down  sideways  at  her  face.  "You  only 
dream  that,"  he  said;  "why,  the  woods  fairly  reek 
with  passions.  Foxes  are  thieves  and  all  animals 
murder  to  live.  Ellerslie  himself  is  n't  more  ready  to 
gore  a  rival  than  the  stags  are.  The  woods  are  no 
heaven,  sad  as  it  is  to  know  it." 

She  looked  at  him  piteously  then,  and  was  silent. 

"Oh,  but  I've  a  beastly  temper,"  he  said  after 
a  minute  more,  real  sorrow  ringing  in  his  voice. 
"You  '11  have  no  more  good  opinion  of  me  after  to- 
day. But  I  don't  care,  I  don't  want  you  to  think 
I  'm  better  than  I  am.  And  if  you  ever  marry,  your 
life  may  go  the  better  for  to-day.  Why,  Mrs.  Ellers- 
lie knows  that  I  don't  love  her.  She  knows  that  I 
never  have  loved  her.  She  's  never  been  my  ideal, 
not  for  one  minute.  Women  who  keep  their  hus- 
bands keyed  up  to  the  mark  by  feeding  them  other 
men  never  are  my  ideal.  But  when  no  one  else  is 
about  I  've  often  come  in  very  handy,  and  so  she  's 
gone  on  playing  I  'm  crazy  about  her  until  now  she 
really  believes  it." 

"Believes  you  're  in  love  with  her!"  Grace's  eyes 
were  appalled. 

"Yes." 

"But  how  can  she  think  that  when  she  knows  that 
you  aren't?" 


182        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"  She  does  n't  think  it ;  she  makes  herself  believe  it." 

"I  don't  just  understand." 

"No,  of  course  not.  But  I'll  tell  you  what  you 
can  do  and  what  you  've  got  to  do ;  you  've  got  to 
look  out,  for  she  '11  lie  to  you  good  and  plenty  about 
me  from  now  on." 

"About  you?" 

"And  about  us  all." 

"Oh!" 

They  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  "If  you  really 
want  to  see  the  well,  you  '11  have  to  wait  here," 
Belden  said. 

"I  should  like  to  see  it." 

"Well,  then,  just  wait  a  minute  and  I  '11  go  down 
and  get  the  man  and  the  key."  He  smiled  as  he 
spoke,  and  she  smiled  back ;  then  he  turned  and  went 
down  through  the  old  Zwinger  to  the  Gasthof. 

Grace  stood  still  where  he  left  her  at  the  parting 
of  the  ways.  She  was  standing  at  the  parting  of 
more  ways  than  one  just  then,  and  was  possibly  sub- 
conscious of  the  fact.  At  any  rate,  her  face  wore  a 
look  of  sweetly  troubled  earnestness  that  was  very, 
very  attractive,  and  her  white  hands  hung  loosely 
clasped  before  her  hi  an  attitude  of  half  appeal  and 
half  restraint  from  that  same  appeal.  Over  her  head 
there  bowed  one  great  sweeping  tree  branch,  the 
leaves  of  which  were  ever  so  slightly  touched  with 
gold;  a  touch  equally  light  and  equally  bright  was 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  183 

glinting  among  the  tender  verdancy  of  her  girlish 
thoughts.  Belden  was  out  of  sight  now  and  she  was 
quite  alone.  She  breathed  a  little  quickly,  thinking 
over  all  the  tumult  —  all  the  rough  turning  up  of  the 
heavy  unsightly  clods  of  masculine  human  nature  she 
had  just  witnessed.  It  had  n't  been  pretty  to  see  nor 
pleasant  to  hear,  but  wasn't  it  better  so  perhaps? 
He  had  thought  so  evidently. 

"Perhaps  it  will  all  teach  us  —  me  —  how  to  do 
better,"  she  thought,  blushing  her  quick  blush  over 
the  mistaken  plural.  Then  the  white  hands  clasped 
one  another  suddenly,  closely,  firmly.  "Oh,  God,  let 
it  teach  me  better,"  she  prayed;  "I  want  to  do 
better.  I  truly  want  to  do  better.  I  don't  want  to 
be  as  other  women  are  after  they  marry.  I  want  to 
be  better." 

Something  made  her  turn  her  head  quickly  as  her 
little  prayer  ended.  And  there  behind  her,  in  the 
very  way  over  which  Barbarossa  had  ridden  in  tri- 
umph, stood  the  little  fawn.  It  must  have  been  hid- 
ing in  the  bushes,  peeping  forth  when  it  felt  it 
possible  to  satisfy  its  young  desire  to  know  more. 
Such  a  delicate,  lovely  little  form,  such  large,  soft, 
luminous  eyes.  It  looked  at  the  girl  and  the  girl 
looked  back;  in  motionless  silence  they  stood  thus 
gazing  plenteously  upon  each  other's  wonder. 

"  It 's  like  the  spirit  of  gentleness  and  tenderness 
made  real,"  Grace  said  to  herself.  "  It 's  as  if,  in 


184        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

the  minute  of  my  prayer,  God  sent  a  living  answer 
across  my  path.  I  '11  take  it  as  an  omen ;  life  is 
good,  people  are  good,  the  woods  are  very  good." 
Then  she  smiled.  "And  I  '11  be  good,  too." 

Apparently  satisfied  with  its  intuitive  insight  into 
her  conclusions,  the  little  wild  thing  raised  its  head  a 
bit  and  tap-tap-tapped  away  over  the  dry  leaves. 

The  minute  after,  Belden  returned. 

"The  man 's  coming  up  with  the  key  and  a  lan- 
tern," he  said. 

"  A  lantern  —  at  noon ! " 

"He  said  a  lantern,  and  he  must  know.  Come, 
I  'm  completely  over  my  temper  now,  and  so  ter- 
ribly sorry;  please  forgive  me  and  forget  and  come 
on."  He  smiled  at  her  again,  this  time  most  good- 
humoredly.  "You  do  forgive  me,  don't  you?"  he 
asked. 

"Why,  yes,  of  course,"  she  said,  and  then  quickly, 
hurriedly:  "Oh,  there  's  a  rabbit!" 

The  Wirt  overtook  them  at  the  top,  greeted  them, 
set  his  lantern  down,  and  unlocked  the  door.  He 
entered  and  they  entered,  and  all  that  they  saw  at 
first  was  a  wooden  well-curb  rigged  with  a  rope 
and  iron  windlass. 

"I  must  light  the  lantern,"  said  the  German,  hi  his 
own  tongue;  "please  close  the  door." 

Belden  closed  the  door,  and  then  he  and  Grace 
stood  side  by  side  leaning  over  the  blackness  and 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  185 

looking  downward.  Both  were  thrilled  through  and 
through,  not  altogether  by  the  well,  —  perhaps  some- 
what by  the  just-seen  rabbit. 

"I  can't  see  a  thing,"  said  Belden,  softly,  "can 
you?" 

"  I  believe  I  see  the  reflection  way,  way  down  there, 
but  I  don't  know,"  said  Grace,  softly  also. 

Both  were  very  busy  thinking. 

The  Wirt  had  lit  the  lantern  by  this  time  and  hung 
it  to  a  wire  which  depended  from  another  and  smaller 
windlass  over  against  the  wall. 

"Oh,  he's  going  to  lower  it  into  the  well,"  said 
the  girl,  feeling  it  necessary  to  say  something. 

"  Yes,"  said  Belden,  moving  closer  to  her. 

All  three  leaned  over  the  curb  as  the  man  swung 
the  light  free  and  let  it  begin  its  descent  into  the 
darkness. 

"There  is  some  new  stonework  first,"  he  said,  in 
German,  "but  watch!  there,  now  the  old  begins." 

Grace  was  breathless  with  interest,  or  perhaps  she 
did  n't  know  what  she  was  breathless  about.  The 
lantern,  going  down,  down,  down,  ever  encircled  by 
its  own  illumination,  showed  course  after  course  of 
rock  laid  up  to  form  a  square  with  rounded  corners. 

"Who  dug  this  well?"  Belden  asked,  reaching  for 
her  hand 

"No  one  knows,"  said  the  Wirt. 

The  weirdness  deepened  each  minute.    The  lantern 


186        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

was  always  descending,  descending,  and  the  arc  of 
illumination  seemed  to  gather  intensity  as  it  grew 
smaller.  As  they  watched  it,  his  hold  on  Grace 
tightened.  To  the  end  of  their  life  they  were  to 
remember  the  well  in  Schloss  Dichtenberg. 

"Watch  now,"  said  the  man;  "the  secret  passage 
begins  now!" 

"The  secret  passage!"  Belden  exclaimed  incred- 
ulously, "a  secret  passage  in  the  well?"  He  drew 
her  closer.  She  let  him;  the  secret  passage  seemed 
to  make  it  all  right  somehow. 

"Yes,"  said  the  man;  "when  the  castle  could  not 
be  held  against  the  enemy  they  used  to  jump  into 
the  well  and  escape  through  the  secret  passages." 

"How  simple!"  murmured  Belden.  "I  wonder  I 
did  n't  think  of  it  myself."  He  pressed  her  hand  hard. 

She  hung  over  the  curb,  more  breathless  than  ever. 
And  yet  there  were  no  rabbits  to  see. 

"By  the  arching,"  the  man  explained,  staying 
the  progress  of  the  lantern  and  swinging  it  near  the 
sides.  "  It 's  there  by  the  arches  —  the  secret  pas- 
sages; one  ran  towards  Goslar  and  one  towards 
Hildesheim." 

"It  says  in  the  book  that  tradition  told  of  an  un- 
derground way  to  Asseburg,"  said  Grace;  she  could 
hardly  breathe. 

"The  well  was  not  cleaned  out  when  the  book  was 
written,"  said  the  man,  letting  the  lantern  loose  again. 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  187 

"  Asseburg  lies  towards  Goslar,  so  the  old  tale  is  proved 
true." 

"Ah,  but  I  've  read  something  about  the  castle  well 
in  the  castle  book/'  Belden  exclaimed  suddenly;  "it 
says  that  once  upon  a  time  the  women  hi  the  castle 
took  fright  during  a  siege  and  all  jumped  into  the 
well."  He  pressed  her  hand  harder. 

"But,  it  says  they  threw  mattresses  in  first,"  Grace 
interrupted,  trying  to  free  herself.  She  was  begin- 
ning to  be  painfully  conscious  now  that  he  "ought 
not  to." 

"Yes,  but  it  couldn't  have  been  true,  anyway." 
Belden  was  very  firm. 

"  Perhaps  they  went  down  in  the  bucket,"  said  the 
Wirt. 

"Fancy  going  down  there."  Belden  felt  her  shud- 
der. "Fancy  being  lowered  all  this  time  with  these 
slimy  walls  getting  littler  and  littler  about  you!" 
She  was  pulling  all  the  time. 

"  Fancy  having  to  trust  men  who  could  n't  get  out 
of  the  castle  alive  to  lower  you  to  that  passage,"  said 
Belden,  "and  to  think  they  leaned  right  here  and 
watched  them  go  down  right  there.  Ugh!"  He  re- 
mained firm. 

"  It 's  beginning  to  get  horrible  to  me,"  said  Grace ; 
"will  the  lantern  ever  get  to  the  bottom?" 

"It  has  to  go  quite  three  hundred  feet,  you 
know." 


188        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"That  isn't  far  on  the  level,  but  here  —  oh 
dear!" 

"He  lets  it  down  slowly;  that 's  part  of  the  game," 
said  Belden,  pressing  her  hand  soothingly.  He  still 
held  it. 

"Perhaps  that  rope  would  hurt  his  fingers,  too, 
if  it  ran  through  fast,"  she  suggested,  struggling 
less. 

Then  there  was  silence  until  the  light,  looking  very 
small  indeed,  paused  at  last. 

"Now  listen,"  said  the  Wirt,  and  scooped  some 
water  out  of  the  well  bucket  hanging  by  his  side. 
It  fell  noiselessly. 

"  Listen ! "  he  said  again. 

And  there  came  then,  far,  far  below,  the  sound  of  a 
faint  splash. 

"Oh!"  Grace  cried,  "it  frightens  me.  I  feel  ill. 
Let 's  go  out.  I  'm  getting  too  near  the  Middle 
Ages." 

Belden  loosed  her  hand,  feed  the  man,  and  they 
left  him  to  wind  up  the  bucket  alone.  "You're 
really  pale,"  he  said,  looking  at  her,  when  they 
reached  the  outside.  "Did  it  make  you  feel  as 
badly  as  that?" 

"Oh,  it  made  me  feel  ill  all  through."  She  avoided 
his  eyes  carefully.  "It  made  me  wonder  who  had 
been  thrown  down  there." 

"There  were  plenty  of  rough  wild  times  around  this 


THE  OVERTURNING  WORM  189 

old  castle,  I  fancy,"  said  Belden,  carelessly;  "it 
seems  a  strange  civilization  that  got  the  ruler  his 
living  by  farming  out  his  lands  and  his  people  to  any 
one  who  was  willing  to  squeeze  all  the  gold  he  could 
out  of  them,  by  fair  means  or  foul  —  mainly  by 
foul."  He  was  carefully  commonplace. 

"It  was  awful,"  said  Grace.  She  could  not  look  at 
him,  but  she  knew  that  he  was  looking  at  her.  "We 
must  hurry  down  to  dinner,"  she  exclaimed. 

"Oh,  must  we?"  said  the  man.  "I  don't  want  to 
one  bit.  Let 's  go  to  Salder !" 

Grace  laughed.    "  Oh,  we  could  n't  do  that ! " 

"I  don't  know  why  not." 

"  Oh,  it  would  n't  do  at  all.  What  would  Cousin 
Lizzie  and  every  one  say?" 

"Married  people  don't  appreciate  their  advan- 
tages," said  Belden,  with  great  decision.  "They  can 
do  anything  they  please,  and  no  one  says  a  thing.  I 
mean  to  get  married  myself  some  day,  just  so  that  I 
can  do  as  I  please." 

Grace  said  nothing;  she  was  deepest  crimson. 

"WTiat  do  you  think  of  the  idea?" 

"Of  what  idea?" 

"Of  my  getting  married?" 

"Oh  —  oh  —  I  don't  know,  I  'm  sure." 

"Don't  you  think  it  would  be  —  " 

"Oh,"  said  the  girl,  desperately,  "oh,  there  is  a 
rabbit!" 


190        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"It  isn't,  either,"  said  Belden;   "it 's  a  hen!" 
"Oh,  is  it?"  said  she,  greatly  relieved.     "It  —  it 

looked  so  —  like  a  rabbit  to  me." 
It  was  so  good  to  be  out  of  that  dark  place  and 

back  in  the  world  of  —  rabbits. 


CHAPTER  XV 

MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT 

MRS.  ELLERSLIE  did  not  come  to  dinner  that  day. 

"Is  Nellie  feeling  badly?"  Mrs.  Dunn  asked,  with 
as  much  friendly  curiosity  as  if  she  did  n't  know  any 
more  than  any  one  ever  supposed  that  she  did. 

"She's  used  up  by  last  night,"  said  Ellerslie, 
uneasily.  "  I  wanted  her  to  stay  in  bed  this  morning, 
but  she  would  go  out  to  walk  and  it  was  too  much 
for  her.  She  's  in  bed  now." 

He  did  n't  suppose  that  Dunn  and  his  wife  knew 
anything  about  the  scene  hi  the  woods,  but  Grace 
had  gotten  back  in  time  to  tell  Mrs.  Dunn,  and  Mrs. 
Dunn  had  immediately  told  her  husband.  The  effect 
had  been  to  cause  Mrs.  Dunn  to  consider  Mrs.  Ellers- 
lie sillier  than  ever,  but  her  husband  had  thought  that 
there  were  probably  two  sides  to  the  story.  "There 
are  always  two  sides  to  every  story  concerning  a 
pretty  woman,"  Dunn  had  said,  and  his  wife,  who, 
in  spite  of  her  kindly  disposition,  was  very  tired  of 
hearing  her  friend  called  a  pretty  woman  in  every 
marital  conversation,  had  merely  reserved  her  own 
opinion  of  how  much  men  in  general  knew. 


192        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Where  did  you  go?"  Dunn  asked  Belden,  with  a 
vague  feeling  that  it  would  look  too  pointed  if  he 
asked  Ellerslie  where  they  had  gone. 

"We  went  up  and  saw  the  well  at  the  castle." 

"Oh!    Interesting?" 

"Very." 

"Why  didn't  you  tell  us?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"We  'd  have  gone,  too;  I  want  Bobby  to  see  that." 

"But  I  did  ask  you,"  said  Belden.  "Don't  you 
remember?" 

"To-day  is  the  twentieth,"  Ellerslie  remarked. 
"We  '11  be  leaving  soon." 

The  atmosphere  at  the  table  bounded  upward. 

"Oh,  shall  you?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  with  the  good 
intention  of  sounding  regretful,  and  totally  unaware 
of  the  radiance  in  her  eyes.  "Must  you  go  so 
soon?" 

"Nellie  wants  to  get  to  Paris  and  get  her  things 
in  order  before  winter." 

"Mrs.  Ellerslie  has  such  lovely  taste,"  said  Grace, 
meaning  to  help  out  with  any  scraps  she  had  in 
hand. 

Dunn  did  not  see  what  would  furnish  salt  for  his 
palate  hereafter.  "It  seems  too  bad  to  leave  the 
country  when  it 's  so  fine,"  he  said.  Internally  he 
registered  a  resolution  to  try  and  be  so  interesting 
that  Mrs.  Ellerslie  would  tarry  longer  hi  Dichtenberg 
just  because  —  well,  because. 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT        193 

But  Mrs.  Dunn  had  no  desire  to  cause  her  friend 
to  delay  her  departure.  That  little  phrase  so  inno- 
cently repeated  by  Bobby,  "Keep  to  your  own  tree," 
had  found  a  nesting-place  even  in  her  non-sensitive 
heart.  She  wanted  Nellie  to  go. 

"I  suppose  that  the  best  of  the  weather  is  over 
now,"  she  said,  with  great  sincerity,  "and  Nellie 
takes  cold  so  easily." 

"Yes,  she  's  very  delicate,"  said  her  husband.  He 
helped  himself  to  all  the  carrots  that  were  left  as  he 
spoke  —  not  because  he  liked  carrots,  but  because  he 
had  noticed  that  Will  Belden  did. 

"What  was  the  well  like?"  Dunn  asked.  His 
voice  sounded  a  bit  strained,  for  he  was  fond  of 
carrots,  too. 

"Oh,  it  was  so  deep,"  Grace  said;  "the  man  let 
a  lantern  down  and  showed  us  where  the  secret  pas- 
sages began." 

"I'll  go  up  there  right  after  dinner,"  said  El- 
lerslie;  "how  much  did  you  give  him  for  show- 
ing it?" 

"I  gave  him  a  Mark" 

"  He  'd  have  been  satisfied  with  half  that." 

"Perhaps,  but  I  shouldn't  have  been  satisfied 
with  giving  him  half  that." 

"Do  have  some  more  beans,"  urged  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"I  meant  to  make  a  lot  of  expeditions  from  here," 
said  Ellerslie,  refusing  the  beans  by  merely  shaking 

13 


194        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

his  head.  "I'd  thought  we'd  make  some  all-day 
tours.  Of  course  I  did  n't  know  Bobby  was  coming." 

"Nellie  couldn't  stand  all-day  tours,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  keeping  Bobby  still  with  her  hand  under  the 
table;  "they  'd  wear  her  out." 

"  I  think  they  're  pretty  hard,"  said  Grace,  so  glad 
the  Ellerslies  were  thinking  of  going  that  she  hardly 
knew  what  she  said.  "One  has  to  carry  so  much." 

"I  never  carry  anything,"  said  Ellerslie. 

"Who  does  the  carrying  then  —  your  wife?"  asked 
Belden.  Mrs.  Dunn  tried  to  touch  him  with  her  foot 
and  touched  Dunn  by  mistake. 

"I  didn't  say  anything,"  said  that  gentleman. 

"I  think  Nellie  's  feeling  better,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"I  think  I  hear  her  overhead." 

In  fact  Mrs.  Ellerslie  could  be  plainly  heard  running 
back  and  forth  between  the  cold  cream  and  the 
mirror. 

"Yes,  I  hear  her,"  said  her  husband;  "she  must 
be  getting  up,  and,  by  the  way,"  to  Mrs.  Dunn,  "she 
wants  you  to  come  to  her  room  after  you  've  finished 
dinner.  She  's  got  something  particular  to  tell  you, 
she  says.  You  can  go,  can't  you?" 

"Yes,  of  course,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  "I'll  go  at 
once.  Oh,  I  do  hope  she  '11  be  well  enough  to  get 
out  to  walk  after  tea !" 

"Yes,"  said  Dunn,  dryly,  "any  one  has  a  dull  life 
who  can't  get  out  to  walk  here."  Then  he  won- 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT        195 

dered  if  Mrs.  Ellerslie  would  walk  with  him.  "Why 
don't  you  and  Belden  go  to  Salder?"  he  suggested 
forthwith. 

"Why  under  the  sun  should  Mrs.  Dunn  and  I  walk 
to  Salder?"  asked  Belden. 

"The  walks  here  are  so  lovely,"  said  Grace,  hur- 
riedly; "now  the  leaves  are  falling  it 's  so  nice.  And 
we  saw  a  little  fawn  this  morning." 

"Oh,  did  you?  "said  Bobby.  "Where?  Oh,  Papa, 
won't  you  make  me  a  sling-shot?" 

"I  wonder  what  the  law  about  game  is  here?" 
said  Dunn,  feeling  unhappy  over  Salder. 

"The  Head  Forester  controls  it  all,"  said  Belden; 
"but  I  guess  he  won't  mind  Bobby's  bringing  down 
what  he  can  with  a  sling-shot." 

"But  I  killed  a  bird  once,  didn't  I,  Papa?"  said 
Bobby,  eagerly.  "  I  hit  him  right  in  the  head,  did  n't 
I,  in  the  eye?" 

"Did  he  really  kill  a  bird?"  said  Ellerslie,  looking 
upon  Bobby  in  a  spirit  of  manifest  incredulity. 

"Yes,  indeed  he  did,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  who  was 
plenty  bright  enough  to  note  Ellerslie's  standpoint; 
"  and  it  was  n't  surprising,  either,  for  if  a  stone  from 
one  of  those  sling-shots  hits  a  bird,  it 's  bound  to 
kill  it.  What  we  always  thought  was  surprising, 
though,  was  that  he  hit  the  bird  right  in  the  eye." 

"I  didn't  know  there  was  a  bird  in  the  tree  at 
all,"  said  Bobby,  hurrying  to  line  up  abreast  of  his 


196        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

mother's  defense.  "I  was  just  trying  my  sling,  and 
he  fell  right  on  to  me,  and  my  sailor  suit  had  to  all 
go  in  the  wash,  didn't  it,  Mamma?" 

"Pass  me  the  cucumbers,  please,"  said  Ellerslie, 
more  heartily  glad  than  ever  that  he  had  no  small  boy 
of  his  own.  "How  deep  was  the  well?" 

"Three  hundred  feet,"  said  Belden;  "it's  really 
worth  seeing." 

"And  you  gave  him  a  Mark,  you  say?" 

"Yes." 

"Ha!" 

Then  that  topic  of  conversation  was  ended. 

When  dinner  was  over  Mrs.  Dunn  went  at  once  to 
her  friend.  She  found  Nellie  Ellerslie  lying  up  against 
the  pillow  looking  like  a  twentieth-century  Madonna, 
with  her  wonderful  hair  parted  and  flowing  off  north- 
west and  southeast  in  two  great  braids,  each  tied 
with  a  huge  pink  bow.  She  had  on  a  frilled  gown  and 
all  her  rings,  and  her  cheeks  were  beautifully  pink, 
partly  with  tears  and  partly  with  rouge.  She  was 
polishing  her  nails. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  so  glad  to  see  you,"  she  exclaimed, 
smiling  so  that  her  pearly  teeth  shone  like  diamonds ; 
"come  in  quick  and  shut  the  door.  I  wouldn't 
have  Will  or  your  husband  catch  a  glimpse  of  me 
like  this  for  anything,  you  know." 

"Why,  I  think  you  look  very  nice,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
reassuringly. 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT        197 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  smiled,  thinking  how  eminently  her 
friend  was  intended  for  just  the  humdrum,  maid-of- 
all-work  niche  in  life  into  which  she  had  fallen.  "  Sit 
down  on  the  side  of  the  bed,"  she  said.  "It 's  lots 
more  comfortable  than  those  chairs  you  bought  us. 
I  'd  offer  you  a  pillow,  only  I  have  them  both  behind 
me." 

"Oh,  I  don't  want  a  pillow,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  sit- 
ting on  the  side  of  the  bed. 

"My  dear,  I  must  tell  you,"  polishing  vigorously, 
"the  most  awful  scene  this  morning!  Has  any  one 
told  you?" 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn;  "what  is  it?" 

"Has  n't  any  one  told  you  a  thing?  Did  n't  Grace 
Waters  say  anything?" 

" No ;  what  is  it?  "  Mrs.  Dunn  was  feminine  enough 
to  be  very  curious  to  hear  her  friend's  side  of  the 
story.  "Do  tell  me  all  about  it." 

"Just  get  me  the  rosaline,  on  the  washstand,  will 
you,  dear?  A  woman  is  so  helpless  when  she  's  in 
bed.  Dear  me,  I  don't  know  where  to  begin,  really 
I  don't ;  but  there  's  one  thing  you  surely  must  have 
seen  all  along,  and  that 's  what  a  truly  awful  time 
I  've  been  having  here." 

Mrs.  Dunn  tried  to  look  all-wise  and  only  succeeded 
in  looking  nonplussed. 

"Of  course  you  've  noticed?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  could  think  of  nothing  better  to  do 


198         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

than  to  nod  her  head.  Evidently  the  gods  who  guard 
the  simple-minded  were  close  to  her  at  that  instant, 
for  Mrs.  Ellerslie  radiated  joy  at  the  response  she 
received. 

"  Yes,  I  knew  you  'd  surely  see ;  but,  my  dear, 
what  could  I  do !  I  've  had  such  a  terrible  time, 
a  really  terrible  time,  trying  to  keep  Will  in  order, 
and  I  think  that  I  've  managed  so  that  the  others 
have  n't  noticed  anything,  but  I  knew  you  'd 
see." 

Mrs.  Dunn  nodded  again.  Mrs.  Ellerslie  redoubled 
her  polishing  vigor. 

"Oh,  my  dear,  Frank  has  been  so  jealous  of  my 
every  word  and  look,  and  Will 's  such  a  jealous  nature, 
too  —  you  know  that.  I  've  been  at  my  wits'  end  to 
keep  peace  between  them.  I  'm  surprised  that  every 
one  has  n't  noticed  how  fearfully  hard  I  've  had  to 
work." 

"  I  'm  so  busy  always,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  apologet- 
ically, quite  forgetting  the  sapiency  she  had  assumed, 
"and  it  takes  me  so  much  time  to  —  " 

"Yes,  well,  it's  been  terrible."  Mrs.  Ellerslie  ap- 
peared quite  oblivious  to  all  but  her  own  tale.  "But, 
my  dear,  to-day !  Well !  You  see,  I  managed  to  keep 
all  smooth  till  this  morning,  and  this  morning,"  she 
paused  suddenly,  "don't  you  really  know  anything 
about  this  morning?"  she  asked. 

"I  know  that  you  all  went  to  walk  together." 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT       199 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  if  that  were  all !  Oh,  if  that  were 
only  all !  Why,  do  you  know  as  soon  as  he  laid  eyes 
on  me  out  there  in  the  hall,  Will  just  went  sort  of 
mad  —  he  always  has  liked  me  in  a  shirt-waist,  you 
know  —  and  he  fairly  grabbed  my  arm,  my  arm,  my 
dear,  and  right  before  Frank,  and  rushed  me  off  with 
him.  He  was  so  quick  I  hardly  knew  what  he  was 
doing  until  it  was  all  done,  and  then  it  was  impos- 
sible to  say  anything  without  making  a  scene,  and  I 
so  hate  scenes !  My  one  aim  in  life  is  to  try  and  avoid 
scenes,  but,  really,  it  was  one  of  the  most  frightful 
dilemmas  that  I  've  ever  been  in." 

Mrs.  Dunn  tried  to  look  sympathetic.  "Where  was 
Frank?"  she  asked. 

"Following  with  Grace.  Only  Will  dragged  me  up 
the  hill  so  fast  that  we  were  soon  out  of  their  sight. 
I  did  n't  know  what  to  say,  and  don't  ask  me  what 
he  said,  I  don't  want  to  remember,  but  anyhow 
finally  I  just  deliberately  pulled  my  arm  away  and 
turned  and  ran  back  to  Frank  as  fast  as  I  could. 
There !  What  do  you  think  of  that?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  did  n't  believe  a  word  of  any  of  it,  but 
did  n't  consider  it  polite  to  say  so.  "  What  did  Frank 
say?"  she  asked,  trying  not  to  yawn. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  you  can  think  what  any  man  would 
say  under  those  circumstances!  At  first  he  was  fu- 
rious, simply  furious,  and  talked  about  shooting  Will 
at  sight.  You  can  think  how  that  frightened  me,  for 


200        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

it  would  be  just  like  him  to  do  something  like  that. 
Tell  me,  how  did  they  get  on  at  dinner?  I  've  been 
lying  here  praying." 

"Oh,  they  got  on  all  right/'  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"Did  they?  I  'm  so  glad.  I  should  have  hated  to 
have  anything  really  tragic  occur  here.  But  you 
know  what  two  men  over  one  woman  always  are! 
And  I  'm  so  tired  of  always  being  the  one  woman." 

She  held  her  hands  off  and  looked  at  her  nails  with 
careful  scrutiny.  Mrs.  Dunn  yawned  outright  now. 

"Did  Will  and  that  girl  walk  far?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
asked,  evidently  considering  the  shooting  episode 
over. 

"They  went  up  to  the  castle  and  saw  the  well." 

"Do  you  think  he  really  cares  for  her  at  all?" 

This  hung  in  so  oddly  with  the  foregoing  that  even 
Mrs.  Dunn  had  hard  work  bearing  it.  "I  don't 
know,  I  'm  sure,"  she  said,  with  care. 

"  I  don't  believe  she  'd  make  him  very  happy.  His 
taste  runs  to  brilliant  women  more." 

"But  has  he  ever  known  many?" 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  shot  a  sharp  glance  over  the  horizon 
of  the  nail-polishing.  "A  good  many/'  she  said, 
"you  and  me,  anyway.  Do  hand  me  the  mirror, 
dear." 

"I  don't  call  myself  a  brilliant  woman,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  handing  the  mirror;  "I'm  useful,  but  not 
brilliant." 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT       201 

"Well,  dear,"  said  her  friend,  kindly,  "being  use- 
ful has  its  place  in  this  world,  just  as  much  as  being 
brilliant.  Think  how  much  you  manage  to  do  for 
us  all!" 

"Yes,  I  do  manage  to  do  a  great  deal,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  thoughtfully,  "there  's  so  much  that  some  one 
has  to  do  to  keep  life  going  smoothly  in  a  place  like 
this." 

"And  even  then  it  doesn't  go  any  too  smoothly, 
does  it?"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "I  don't  believe  that 
you  and  I  are  ever  going  to  look  back  on  this  fort- 
night with  any  special  pleasure.  And,  as  to  that 
Burgverliess  —  " 

"That  was  awful,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"That  was  the  experience  of  my  life.  I  'd  rather 
have  Frank  shoot  any  one  on  my  account  and  then 
stand  the  scene  after,  than  ever  get  in  a  hole  like 
that  again.  I  don't  know  what  I  'd  have  done  with- 
out your  cape.  I  'd  have  frozen !  As  it  was,  I  Ve 
never  been  so  miserable  in  my  life." 

They  had  evidently  hit  on  a  subject  now  which 
did  interest  Mrs.  Dunn.  "  I  '11  never  forget  how  I 
felt  when  I  saw  it  beginning  to  get  dark  and 
found  I  could  n't  make  any  more  sounds  with  my 
throat,"  she  said,  with  deep  sincerity  ringing  in  her 
tone. 

"Wasn't  it  frightful?  I  '11  never  forget  yesterday 
afternoon  as  long  as  I  live." 


202         JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"I  was  afraid  there  might  come  rats  in  the 
night." 

"Oh !"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  gave  a  little  cry.  "That  re- 
minds me;  I  knew  I  had  something  to  tell  you  that 
was  really  important.  There  was  a  mouse  in  this 
room  last  night ! " 

"Not  really?" 

"Yes,  indeed.  He  crawled  all  over  the  door  and 
gnawed  the  panels." 

"Crawled  all  over  the  door!" 

"Look,  you  can  see  where  he  gnawed." 

Mrs.  Dunn  got  up  at  once  and  went  and  looked  at 
the  door.  "How  did  he  ever  hold  on?"  she  asked, 
in  great  amazement. 

"  I  don't  know,  I  'm  sure.  Such  an  acrobatic 
mouse!  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it, 
dear?" 

"I'll  have  to  get  them  to  set  a  mouse-trap,  of 
course;  do  you  suppose  he  's  still  in  the  room?" 

"  I  suppose  so.  It  is  n't  the  least  of  my  trials  to 
think  so.  Why  don't  you  ring  and  get  the  trap  right 
now,  Lizzie?  You  may  forget  it  later,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  I  guess  I  '11  go  down  and  ask  about  it."  She 
rubbed  her  forehead  wearily.  "Frank  said  at  dinner 
that  you  were  going  in  a  few  days;  did  he  mean  it?" 

"Don't  ask  me  what  Frank  means,  my  dear;  his 
meanings  are  much  too  much  for  me.  But  if  he 
wants  to  go,  I  '11  be  only  too  delighted,  I  'm  sure." 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT       203 

"  Has  n't  he  said  anything  to  you  about  it?" 

"No,  he  hasn't  said  anything  to  me  except  about 
Will  Belden  for  weeks.  Frank  's  an  ogre." 

The  ogre  tapped  at  the  door  just  then. 

"See  who  it  is,  Lizzie." 

"  Me,"  cried  the  ogre's  voice. 

"  Oh,  come  in,  love." 

The  door  opened,  and  Ellerslie  flew  to  his  wife's 
outstretched  arms. 

"I'm  going  to  see  what  Bobby's  doing,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn,  hurriedly.  She  shared  Belden's  views  as 
to  the  Ellerslie  love-making  and  quarreling,  but 
justice  caused  her  to  admit  that  they  were  on  their 
own  ground  now. 

"Don't  forget  the  mouse-trap,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  called 
out  from  under  the  shadow  of  her  husband's  over- 
hanging moustache;  "remember." 

"I  won't  forget,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  She  was  now 
shutting  the  door. 

"Well,  I  broke  our  departure  to  them,"  Ellerslie 
said,  when  they  were  alone. 

"Did  oo,  sweetheart?"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  replied. 

"Yes,  just  as  you  bade  me,  lovey-dovey-mine." 

"You  old  sweetness,"  said  his  wife.  "Frank, 
there  's  no  use  talking,  you  're  the  greatest  darling 
alive.  Oh,  I  '11  be  so  glad  to  get  away  from  this  deadly 
place,  and  Lizzie's  everlasting  fault-finding  with 
everything  and  everybody." 


204        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Does  she  find  fault?  "  said  Ellerslie,  who  was  de- 
vouring his  beautiful  wife  with  hungry  eyes.  "But, 
pet,  think  how  homely  she  is  and  be  merciful." 

"  I  know,  I  try  to  bear  it  all.  But  I  'm  so  tired  of 
her  and  her  stupid  husband  and  that  nuisance  of  a 
child !  I  want  to  go !" 

"Does  her  want  to  go?"  said  Ellerslie.  "Well,  if 
her  wants  to  go  her  just  shall  go  wite  straight  off. 
Her —  Great  Scott!"  he  cried,  sharply,  "what  do 
you  mean  by  sticking  a  pin  in  hi  front  like  that? 
Look  at  my  hand !" 

Mrs.  Ellerslie,  having  full  faith  in  her  own  true 
and  tried  brand  of  rouge,  promptly  burst  into 
tears 

"Frank  Ellerslie,  you'll  drive  me  to  my  grave," 
she  sobbed.  "I  try  to  be  patient,  and  I  try  to  look 
pretty,  and  you  know  how  I  spent  yesterday  in  that 
dungeon,  and  I  was  up  all  night  with  the  mouse,  and 
now  —  and  now  —  you  —  you  —  you  —  sc-  sc-  scold 
me." 

"Where's  some  court-plaster?"  Ellerslie  asked, 
sharply. 

"We  haven't  got  any.  Go  and  get  Lizzie's," 
said  his  wife,  her  face  buried  in  the  pillow. 

Ellerslie  went  at  once.  "  Have  you  got  any  court- 
plaster?"  he  asked  of  Mrs.  Dunn,  carefully  keeping 
his  left  hand  hi  his  pocket.  "Nell  has  jabbed  herself 
with  the  manicure  scissors." 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE'S  SIDE  OF  IT        205 

"Here's  some,"  said  the  useful  lady,  rushing  to 
her  wash-stand  drawer;  "how  big  a  piece?" 

"I  'd  better  cut  it,"  said  Ellerslie,  his  fingers  clos- 
ing promptly  on  the  case. 

Mrs.  Dunn  smiled  a  little  sadly  as  the  court-plaster 
followed  so  many  other  little  conveniences  of  her  pur- 
chasing into  the  room  across  the  way. 

A  few  minutes  later  Ellerslie  returned  to  say  that 
his  wife  was  feeling  so  badly  that  neither  he  nor  she 
would  go  to  walk.  Mrs.  Dunn  had  just  gotten  the 
mouse-trap  and  Bobby  was  looking  at  it  with  wonder- 
ing eyes.  It  was  two  feet  tall  and  contained  a  cistern 
in  which  to  drown  mice  after  catching  them  and  a 
window  up-stairs  for  free  ventilation. 

"You  can  take  it  back  into  your  room  with  you," 
Mrs.  Dunn  suggested  to  Ellerslie. 

Ellerslie  took  the  mouse-trap.  "I  don't  believe 
there  's  a  mouse  in  the  room  at  all,"  he  said,  as  he 
retired. 

"He  doesn't  even  like  to  catch  mice,  does  he, 
Papa?"  Bobby  observed. 

"Hush,  Bobby,  you  mustn't  criticise,"  said  his 
mother. 

"What 's  that,  Mamma?" 

"  It  means  you  must  n't  talk  about  people." 

"Why  must  n't  I?  Everybody  else  does,  and  why 
mustn't  I?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  looked  hopelessly  at  her  husband  and 


206        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

was  just  going  to  say  something  when  a  frightful 
crash  followed  by  a  piercing  shriek  came  from  the 
room  opposite. 

To  make  a  long  tale  short,  Ellerslie  had  found 
the  mouse  asleep  in  his  dressing-gown  pocket,  and 
the  frightened  creature  had  jumped  right  over  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  in  making  its  escape. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  FATAL  DAY 

THE  next  morning  it  was  Belden  and  Grace  who 
got  up  betimes  and  went  out  to  walk  without  saying 
anything  to  anybody.  In  so  doing  they  committed  a 
grave  fault  —  an  even  greater  fault  than  Dunn  and 
Mrs.  Ellerslie  had  perpetrated  hi  hieing  themselves  off 
to  Hildesheim,  or  than  the  two  Ellerslies  had  been 
guilty  of  hi  visiting  Salder  without  any  previous  an- 
nouncement. The  beauty  of  small  parties  together  in 
some  lonesome  spot  is  that  invariably  each  member 
of  the  select  gathering  develops  all  his  or  her  sharp 
corners  and  sensitive  spots  unto  their  utmost  limit 
of  sharpness  and  sensitiveness,  so  that  by  the  end  of 
the  first  week  hardly  any  one  can  do  anything  with- 
out either  pricking,  prodding,  goading,  galling,  slam- 
ming, criticising,  or  cruelly  wounding  one  or  more  of 
the  rest,  if  not  all  of  them  together. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  thought  that  Will  should  have  walked 
with  her,  as  she  had  something  important  to  talk 
over  with  him  and  had  sent  him  a  note  to  that  effect 
that  very  morning.  She  had  n't  quite  decided  what 
the  important  something  should  be,  but  she  had  had 


208        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

her  door  locked  for  nearly  an  hour  making  prepara- 
tions for  the  interview,  and  was  naturally  much  dis- 
pleased when  she  saw  the  two  young  people  pass  her 
window  on  their  way  off  alone  by  themselves.  She 
took  it  very  hard  indeed  and  had  a  good  mind  to 
change  her  stockings  with  the  embroidered  clocks  and 
her  red-heeled  patent  leather  ankle-ties  (she  had  in- 
tended climbing),  and  to  put  on  her  every-day  black 
silk  petticoat  instead  of  the  one  with  the  Dresden- 
flowered  flounce,  but,  before  she  could  do  anything, 
her  husband  rapped  with  the  peculiarly  imperative 
emphasis  which  being  locked  out  of  his  own  room 
by  his  own  wife  sometimes  induces  in  mere  mortal 
man. 

"I  can't  let  you  in,  dear."  Mrs.  Ellerslie  cried, 
aware  of  being  at  that  minute  altogether  too  beau- 
tifully gotten  up  for  even  a  husband  not  to  notice  the 
special  bewitchments;  "you  '11  have  to  wait." 

As  it  was  the  third  refusal  in  the  hour,  Ellerslie 
concluded  he  might  as  well  rebel.  So  he  did,  in 
that  especial  mode  which  he  and  his  wife  used  for 
transacting  pacific  intentions  among  themselves. 

"I  don't  want  to  come  in,"  he  cried;  "I  only 
wanted  to  tell  you  that  I  'm  going  out." 

"Oh,  are  you?"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  promptly  hurt, 
but  not  intending  to  let  him  know  it ;  "I  'm  so  glad. 
Hope  you  '11  have  a  nice  time." 

This  made  Ellerslie  so  vexed  that  he  decided  that 


THE  FATAL  DAY  209 

he  really  would  go  out,  just  to  show  her  that  he  had 
been  telling  the  truth.  Therefore,  turning  without 
another  word,  he  went  straight  into  the  sitting- 
room  opposite  and  asked  Mrs.  Dunn  if  she  would  n't 
like  to  go  out  with  him. 

Mrs.  Dunn,  who  was  darning  Bobby's  stockings, 
was  quite  startled  and  pleased.  Nobody  had  asked 
her  to  go  out  to  walk  for  ever  so  long.  And  Ellerslie 
was  mad  enough  at  his  wife  to  be  able  to  give  the 
invitation  in  a  most  winning  manner. 

"But  isn't  Nellie  going,  too?"  she  asked;  "she 
isn't  ill,  I  hope?" 

"  Oh,  no,  she 's  writing  letters,"  said  Ellerslie, 
with  ready  inventiveness;  "she  doesn't  want  to 
stop." 

"Bob  is  down  seeing  to  Bobby's  donkey-wagon," 
said  Mrs.  Dunn,  sticking  her  needle  in;  "we  can  go 
out  for  an  hour  or  two  without  its  making  any  dif- 
ference to  any  one,  I  guess."  Then  she  rolled  all  her 
working  implements  neatly  together  and  put  them 
away.  "I  wonder  if  I'll  need  a  jacket  beside  my 
cape  or  not,"  she  said. 

"  It 's  warm  out,"  said  Ellerslie,  who  did  n't  know 
anything  about  it. 

"Then  I  '11  take  just  the  cape."  She  unhooked  it 
from  the  coat-rack  as  she  spoke.  "I  wonder  if  the 
others  would  go!" 

"Oh,  don't  ask  'em,"  said  Ellerslie.   "I  hate  a 

14 


210        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

crowd  trailing  along  together  and  all  just  overhear- 
ing enough  of  what  one  says  to  think  they  know 
everything." 

"But  we  must  tell  them,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  but- 
toning the  cape  around  her  neck.  "  I  never  think  it 's 
polite  to  go  out  without  telling  the  rest."  She  did  n't 
mean  to  be  pointed,  but  her  husband's  secret  and 
sudden  flight  to  Hildesheim  had  rankled. 

"Just  as  you  please,"  said  Ellerslie,  indifferently; 
he  was  already  repenting  of  having  invited  her. 
"I  '11  tell  Nell,"  he  added. 

They  went  out  in  the  hall,  and  Mrs.  Dunn  went  to 
Grace's  room,  while  Ellerslie  knocked  again  at  his 
own  door.  The  door  flew  open  almost  instantly  this 
time,  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  in  an  effective  blue  undress 
uniform,  greeted  her  husband  effusively.  She  had  had 
time  not  only  to  consider,  but  also  to  change  her 
things,  and  was  now  a  veritable  marital  dream. 

"  Look  at  me,  dear !  my  new  lingerie !  I  've  spent 
this  whole  morning  making  myself  worthy  it  and  you ! 
This  is  why  you  were  locked  out ! " 

Ellerslie  took  one  brief  look,  and  it  was  veni,  vidi, 
vid,  with  a  vengeance.  He  went  into  the  room, 
shut  the  door,  and  locked  it ;  he  did  n't  want  to  go 
now.  "Why  didn't  you  tell  me  what  you  were 
doing?"  he  asked.  "Those  are  those  things  you  got 
in  Lucerne,  are  n't  they?" 

"Do  be  careful,  dear,  this  fine  lace  tears  so;    I 


THE  FATAL  DAY  211 

did  n't  want  to  tell  you ;  I  wanted  to  surprise  you." 
She  put  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  laid  her  cheek 
upon  his  hair;  her  soul  was  full  of  satisfaction  over 
thinking  how  poor  a  showing  Grace  Waters  would 
have  made  in  the  very  same  things.  After  all,  what 
an  idiot  Will  Belden  was!  If  he  married  that 
girl,  ten  to  one  he  never  would  know  enough  to  be 
crazy  over  what  he  had  missed.  It  exasperated  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  to  think  how  many  men  there  must  always 
be  who  never  could  know  how  pretty  she  was  en 
negligee.  "Do  you  like  me  so,  dear?"  she  asked; 
"don't  you  think  perhaps  if  this  were  shaped  so  —  " 

A  step  sounded  in  the  hall  without. 

"Oh,  hang  it  all!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  lov- 
ing husband,  "it's  that  woman!  I  thought  you 
were  asleep,  and  I  asked  her  to  go  to  walk  with  me, 
and  now  there  she  is." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  quite  started.  "Asked  her  to  go  to 
walk !  Why,  Frank !  Why,  no  one  ever  asks  her  to 
go  to  walk.  What  possessed  you?" 

"I  went  hi  there  to  get  something  and  she  was  sit- 
ting looking  out  of  the  window." 

"Hush,  she  may  be  listening  at  the  door." 

"No,  she  's  gone  to  Belden's  room.    Hear  her?  " 

Mrs.  Dunn  was  rapping  on  Belden's  door. 

"She  doesn't  seem  satisfied  with  just  you,"  said 
Mrs.  Ellerslie,  freshly  tempered;  "she  wants  Will, 
too." 


212        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"It  is  n't  that.  She  thought  we  ought  to  tell  every 
one." 

"Oh,  how  funny!  It  takes  a  woman  like  that  to 
want  to  be  careful  not  to  look  queer.  As  if  any  one 
would  care  whom  she  walked  with !  But  why  did  you 
ask  her?  I  don't  want  you  to  go  out.  I  want  'oo 
'tay  wite  here."  She  nestled  up  against  him  and 
wound  one  of  her  blue  ribbon  ends  about  his  neck. 
She  did  n't  always  want  her  husband  around,  but 
she  certainly  was  n't  going  to  let  him  go  if  Lizzie 
wanted  him.  No,  indeed. 

The  blue  ribbon  worked  like  a  charm.  Ellerslie 
felt  terribly.  He  wanted  to  stay,  too. 

"  I  '11  say  you  're  ill  and  I  must  n't  leave  you,"  he 
proposed. 

"  No,  then  she  '11  think  I  'm  jealous. "  She  was  rub- 
bing her  cheek  against  his. 

"You,  jealous  of  her!"  Ellerslie's  tone  expressed 
a  flattering  statement  of  the  preposterousness  of 
that  idea. 

Now  they  could  hear  Mrs.  Dunn  go  into  her  own 
sitting-room  to  meekly  wait  till  wanted. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  go,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  tak- 
ing her  husband  affectionately  by  his  two  ears;  "I 
won't  let  you  go,  either."  Then  she  suddenly  forgot 
all  of  her  part.  "Oh,  Frank,  what  a  pity  your  ears 
are  so  large !  It 's  the  one  thing  that  keeps  you  from 
being  a  good-looking  man." 


THE  FATAL  DAY  213 

Now,  this  was  very,  very  unfortunate,  for,  as  has 
been  previously  stated,  Ellerslie  was  a  very  hand- 
some man  and  knew  it,  and,  as  has  also  been  pre- 
viously stated,  was  as  quick-tempered  as  he  was 
good  to  look  at.  He  was  quite  upset  by  this  thought- 
less speech  of  his  wife's,  and  showed  his  change  of 
base  at  once.  The  blue  get-up  ceased  to  have  any 
effect,  and  he  felt  as  anxious  to  go  as  if  he  had  been 
fully  aware  that,  in  spite  of  her  brave  efforts  to  bear 
up,  his  wife  was  really  suffering  from  the  keenest  dis- 
appointment over  not  being  out  walking  with  Belden 
that  minute.  It  was  a  sad  and  sudden  alteration  all 
around. 

"I've  got  to  go,"  he  said,  abruptly.  "It  isn't 
decent  to  keep  her  waiting  ahy  longer.  Let  go  my 
ears." 

"Oh,  Frank,  how  funny  that  sounds!  'Let  go  my 
ears,'  as  if  your  ears  were  miles  long  and  I  had  them 
wrapped  around  my  hands." 

This  made  him  angrier  yet. 

"Now  you  're  mad,"  said  his  observant  wife. 

Of  course  he  was  very  mad  at  that. 

"I  'm  not  mad,"  he  said,  furiously,  put  her  from 
him  forthwith,  and  left  the  room. 

She  turned  and  listened  until  she  heard  them  both 
go  down  the  hall.  Then  she  smiled  and  bolted  the 
door. 

"  Now  I  '11  have  peace  for  a  while,"  she  said,  being 


214        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

a  woman  who  kept  all  her  moods  for  others,  and  was 
always  singularly  even-tempered  and  equable  when 
alone ;  and  she  forthwith  pitched  herself  upon  the  bed 
with  a  French  novel  and  prepared  to  be  blissfully 
happy  till  noon. 

But  the  morning  had  been  otherwise  sketched  by 
Fate,  and  it  was  Dunn  who  came  battering  his  way 
up  the  hall  ten  minutes  later,  trying  to  learn  who 
was  in  and  who  was  out.  Mrs.  Ellerslie's  was  the 
first  door  where  his  batter  provoked  response. 

"Is  Bobby  with  you?"  she  cried. 

"No,  I'm  alone." 

"Oh!  Oh  dear!  Oh,  I  thought  Bobby  was  with 
you ! "  This  was  positively  wily. 

"No,  I  'm  alone,"  Dunn  repeated,  wiled  at  once. 

"Oh  dear.    Then  you  can't  come  in." 

With  the  closed  door  between  them,  this  sounded 
most  fascinating  in  its  innuendo. 

"Where  are  they  all?"  he  cried  next. 

"All  gone  to  walk.  All  but  me."  Her  tone  was 
pathetic. 

"Why  didn't  you  go?" 

"Nobody  asked  me."  Her  tone  just  slightly  fal- 
tered. 

Dunn  felt  really  chivalrous  and  romantic  over  being 
the  only  man  who  wanted  her.  "Won't  you  come  out 
with  me?"  he  called,  through  the  door. 

"Where's  Bobby?" 


THE  FATAL  DAY  215 

"He  's  down  with  the  donkey;  he  does  n't  want  to 
go  out  this  morning." 

"Oh!" 

Impossible  to  know  what  that  meant  with  the 
door  forever  there. 

"  Do  come,"  he  urged. 

"I'm  thinking." 

He  waited.    She  took  her  own  time  to  think. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  shriek,  a  wild  shriek,  from 
within  the  room. 

Of  course  upon  that  he  flung  open  the  door  and 
rushed  to  her  aid. 

She  was  all  in  a  heap  on  the  sofa,  a  blue  heap. 

"What  is  it?  What  is  it?"  He  was  wild  to  do 
something  for  her. 

"Oh,"  she  screamed,  "it's*  the  mouse!  I  never 
knew  he  was  in  the  trap,  and  he  just  came  and  looked 
out  of  that  little  upper  window  in  it  at  me!  Oh 
dear,  I  never  got  such  a  shock  in  all  my  life  before ! 
Oh,  never,  never!" 

Dunn  fell  on  his  knees,  at  the  side  of  the  mouse- 
trap. "Not  a  sound  was  heard  —  not  a  funeral 
note."  If  the  mouse  had  not  jumped  out  of  the  little 
window,  he  had  evidently  committed  suicide  in  the 
cistern  built  for  that  purpose. 

"He  's  disposed  of,  anyhow,"  he  said,  reassuringly. 
Then  he  rose  from  the  floor,  looked  about  a  little 
vaguely,  and  finally  drew  a  chair  to  the  table  that 


216        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

stood  before  the  sofa,  and  sat  down  there.  "Poor 
little  frightened  woman!"  he  said,  at  a  venture,  and 
then  he  did  n't  know  what  to  say  next 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  shuddered  and  shuddered  again.  She 
thought  he  ought  to  say  something  more.  She  waited 
a  little,  and  then  she  shuddered  again.  Dunn  did  n't 
say  anything,  because  he  did  n't  know  what  to  say. 
She  shuddered  two  times;  it  seemed  to  her  he  must 
surely  make  some  remark  soon.  And  then,  finally, 
it  was  she  herself  who  had  to  speak. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  so  afraid  of  mice,"  she  said,  with  a  falter. 

"Perhaps  I  had  better  carry  the  trap  down-stairs," 
said  Dunn.  It  seemed  to  him  a  good  way  to  get  out 
of  the  room.  If  all  the  circumstances  had  been  dif- 
ferent, he  might  have  been  different,  too ;  but  he  had 
learned  only  too  well  the  suddenness  of  a  charge 
down  the  bare  boards  of  the  upper  hall  at  the  Gasthof. 
"I  '11  carry  it  down  right  now,"  he  said,  promptly. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  saw  it  was  no  use.  She  sat  up  straight 
at  once.  "Yes,  and  I  '11  change  my  boots  and  we  '11 
go  out  to  walk,  too,"  she  said.  "It 's  so  kind  of  you 
to  ask  me."  She  was  no  longer  surprised  over  his 
having  picked  out  Lizzie  to  marry.  She  thought 
Lizzie  was  just  about  his  caliber. 

Dunn  took  the  mouse-trap  and  went  out.  He  was 
vastly  relieved  when  he  found  himself  really  in  the 
hall.  Men  are  not  anywhere  near  as  fond  of  skimming 
on  thin  ice  as  women  choose  to  believe  that  they  are. 


THE  FATAL  DAY  217 

When  he  returned  from  disposing  of  the  mouse-trap, 
he  called  through  the  door,  "I'll  wait  in  the 
sitting-room  till  you  're  ready,"  and  went  in  there. 
He  felt  so  delightfully  open  and  aboveboard  in  the 
sitting-room ;  no  matter  who  came  in  he  could  n't 
possibly  be  suspected  of  anything  if  he  were  found 
sitting  quietly  alone  in  the  sitting-room.  It  was  part 
of  the  past  few  days'  teaching  that  Dunn,  who  was 
really  a  very  decent  fellow  and  extremely  fond  of 
his  own  wife,  was  becoming  as  uneasy  over  Mrs.  Ellers- 
lie  as  Belden  himself .  A  man  has  to  be  almost  super- 
naturally  clever  to  avoid  one  certain  approach  in  the 
game  of  Fascination ;  it  is  the  approach  of  the  woman 
who  does  n't  care  what  she  says,  not  even  to  one's 
wife. 

Presently  the  door  opened,  and  the  lady  entered, 
dressed  for  walking.  She  was  really  as  pretty  as  the 
prettiest  thing  in  walking  costumes  this  year.  Oh, 
she  was  very  pretty ! 

"But  where 's  Bobby?"  she  said,  looking  around. 

Poor  little  useful  Bobby ! 

"He's  watching  the  finishing  touches  put  on  his 
donkey-wagon;  he  's  settled  for  the  morning." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  thereupon  hesitated  bewitchingly, 
and  continued  to  hesitate  and  bewitch  for  several 
minutes. 

"I  don't  know  just  what  to  do,"  she  said,  finally. 

"What's  the  matter?" 


218        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"I  wonder  whether  I  ought  to  go  out,  alone  with 
you,  so." 

"Whether  you  ought  to  go!  Why,  you  proposed 
going!"  Dunn  was  openly  amazed. 

"Yes,  but  I  supposed  of  course  Bobby  would  go, 
too." 

"But  what  difference  does  it  make?" 

"  Difference  —  difference  —  "  She  looked  up  at 
him,  and  her  eyelashes  were  almost  as  wonderful  as 
her  beautiful  eyes.  "  Oh,  Mr.  Dunn,  I  can  trust  you, 
can't  I,  but  —  you  see  —  Frank  is  so  jealous  of  you !" 

"Of  me!"  Dunn  almost  howled;  he  was  very 
greatly  surprised,  for  his  fatal  attraction  of  Ellerslie's 
jealousy  was  one  of  her  friend's  confidences  which  his 
wife  had  not  repeated  to  him.  "Of  me!"  he  added, 
with  fresh  wonder. 

"Yes,  of  you."  She  went  over  by  the  window,  and 
he  thought  that  she  was  striving  to  conceal  emotion. 
"You  know  you  met  me  when  I  came,  and  then,  oh, 
you  know,  ever  since?"  She  waited  by  the  window 
several  seconds,  but  he  did  not  join  her  there.  He 
never  thought  of  it 

"Oh,  Mr.  Dunn,"  she  said  finally  —  and  waited 
some  more.  If  she  had  been  a  shade  less  lovely,  she 
had  need  have  been  a  hundred  times  more  clever, 
but  as  it  was,  cleverness  went  by  default.  Dunn  con- 
tinued to  sit  in  his  chair.  Finally  she  turned  towards 
him,  smiling. 


THE  FATAL  DAY  219 

"Well,  I  suppose  it  won't  matter,"  she  said. 

" Of  course  it  won't  matter.  How  could  it?  Come 
on;  let 's  go  out  at  once."  He  rose  briskly,  for  the 
idea  that  Ellerslie  was  jealous  of  him  was  something 
that  made  him  feel  like  fresh  air  and  plenty  of  it. 

"Of  course  any  one  can  see  how  interested  I  am 
in  all  you  say,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  explained,  as  they 
quitted  the  room,  "and  of  course  Frank  has  the 
sense  to  perceive  how  much  more  similar  your  tastes 
are  to  mine  than  his  have  ever  been." 

Dunn,  who  did  n't  know  that  they  had  ever  com- 
pared tastes,  felt  rather  radiant  over  the  discovery 
that  they  had  done  so.  And  yet,  radiant  as  he  felt, 
he  was  also  suddenly  conscious  of  a  strange,  woeful 
stab.  What  was  it?  Surely  not  remorse,  for  he 
hadn't  done  anything.  Surely  not  his  conscience, 
for  he  was  not  going  to  do  anything.  And  yet  it 
was  a  stab. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  running  down-stairs  ahead,  and 
at  the  turning  she  threw  a  look  back  to  him.  It 
was  a  sweet  look  and  disposed  of  the  stab  at  once. 
"I  'm  so  happy,"  she  cried,  gleefully.  "Oh,  what  fun 
we  are  going  to  have ! " 

Dunn  rose  to  that  fly,  and  gave  his  moustache  a 
pull  and  himself  a  shake,  and  sailed  in.  After  all, 
what  did  it  matter ! 

"It's  really  our  first  walk  alone  together,"  he 
said;  "do  you  know  that?" 


220        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Know  it!"  She  was  fluttering  down  the  lower 
hall  before  him  now;  "do  I  know  it?" 

"Now,  where  shall  we  go?"  he  asked,  as  they 
crossed  the  court. 

'Not  in  the  woods,"  she  said.  "I  don't  want 
to  meet  any  one,  and  they  all  go  in  the  woods 
always." 

"Salder?"  queried  Dunn. 

"No,  not  Salder;  I  don't  want  to  go  to  Salder. 
It  would  remind  me  of  Frank,  and  I  don't  want  to 
be  reminded  of  Frank."  She  turned  a  lovely  arch 
glance  his  way  just  here,  and  added:  "You  won't  be 
mean  enough  to  go  and  remind  me  of  Frank,  will 
you?" 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Dunn,  with  blithe  willingness  to 
promise  any  little  favor  she  might  ask.  "But  if  we 
go  down  the  hill  we  '11  have  to  walk  up  it  again,  you 
know." 

"I  don't  mind.  I  don't  mind  anything.  I  'm  just 
so  happy  this  morning." 

So  they  went  down  through  the  evergreens,  and 
the  steeper  and  stonier  portion  of  the  hill. 

"Let's  go  to  Broistedt,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  suggested; 
"that  will  be  sport." 

"Well,  if  you  want  to,"  Dunn  assented;  "where  is 
it,  anyway?" 

"That 's  it  over  there,"  indicating  Reppi  T  with 
her  dainty  hand;  "it  isn't  far." 


THE  FATAL  DAY  221 

Dunn  thought  it  looked  like  a  good  ways,  but  her 
eyelashes  continued  to  bring  down  game  at  every 
shot,  so  he  did  n't  say  so. 

"I'm  so  happy,"  she  said  again.  It  seemed  to 
her  that  he  ought  to  get  to  saying  something  pretty 
soon,  but  Dunn  was  too  busy  wondering  what  he  'd 
better  say  to  say  anything  at  all.  He  wasn't  ab- 
solutely without  experience  as  to  things  to  say,  but 
he  did  n't  quite  trust  his  companion.  His  wife  had 
repeated  to  him  (in  strict  confidence)  many  things 
that  made  him  wonder  if  perhaps  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
would  n't  tell  Belden  whatever  he  did  say.  Men 
are  funny;  they  hate  to  have  their  love-making 
talked  over  in  cold  blood;  it  seems  odd  that  they 
should  feel  so,  but  they  do. 

"  It 's  strange  that  we  never  have  walked  to  any 
of  those  little  Dorfs  before,"  the  lady  said.  Dorf  is 
German  for  village,  and  it  was  one  of  Mrs.  Ellerslie's 
charms  that  much  travel  had  taught  her  to  piece  her 
language  out  with  bits  of  lingual  color.  "They  are 
so  nett"  she  added. 

"Yes,"  said  Dunn,  not  knowing  that  nett  meant 
nothing  more  crafty  than  "  little "  and  "  pretty  " 
combined.  "Yes,  they  are."  He  wasn't  going  to 
be  netted  for  lack  of  caution. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  began  to  wish  she  had  remained  at 
home  with  the  French  novel.  "What  ails  you,  any- 
way?" she  asked,  frankly.  Frankness  is  the  dernier 


222        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

ressort  of  some  women,  just  as  it  is  the  dernier  cri 
with  others. 

"  Ails  me ! "  said  Dunn,  with  a  mental  start.  "  Why, 
nothing.  Why  should  you  think  anything  ailed 
me?" 

"Because  something  does  ail  you.  I  know  it.  I 
know  what  it  is,  too.  Lizzie  's  been  talking  about 
me.  I  know  it." 

Dunn  turned  so  red  that  there  was  no  sense  at  all 
in  the  denial  which  he  stoutly  put  forth  at  once. 

"  I  wish  she  would  n't,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  con- 
tinuing to  speak  the  truth.  "I  don't  think  it  kind 
of  her.  I  tell  her  things  and  she  promises  me  not  to 
tell  any  one,  and  then  she  tells  you.  I  don't  think 
it 's  fair." 

"Don't  you  tell  your  husband  everything?"  Dunn 
asked.  He  did  n't  stop  to  consider  the  logical  deduc- 
tions to  be  drawn  from  this  question  of  his,  but  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  did  n't,  either. 

"Tell  my  husband  everything!  Indeed  I  don't. 
Why,  he  makes  my  life  a  burden  over  just  the  little 
that  he  accidentally  finds  out." 

"Oh !"  said  Dunn,  and  after  the  exclamation  point 
he  put  a  full  stop. 

"This  is  an  awfully  stony  hill,  isn't  it?"  the 
lady  said,  presently.  She  had  taken  so  little  interest 
in  the  last  remarks  which  either  had  made  that  she 
had  actually  thought  out  how  she  would  have  her 


THE  FATAL  DAY  223 

green  velvet  hat  made  over  in  the  meantime,  and 
had  also  regretted  Belden  more  than  ever. 

"  Yes,  it 's  very  steep,"  said  Dunn.  It  came  to  him 
that  he  might  take  her  arm  and  help  her,  but,  after 
all,  what  was  the  use?  It  would  only  make  more 
trouble. 

"I  suppose  you  think  that  I  repeat  things,  too," 
Mrs.  Ellerslie  went  on  after  another  pause,  having  now 
worked  back  to  the  delicate  topic,  "but  I  don't.  If 
you  knew  all  your  wife  has  told  me !  And  I  've  never 
told  Frank  a  word  of  it,  either." 

Dunn  felt  very  keenly  the  baldness  of  this.  Even 
flirtations  require  some  skill,  and  he  was  sharp  enough 
to  divine  that  his  companion  was  not  considering  him 
wTorthy  hers. 

"It 's  going  to  be  too  far  to  walk  to  Broistedt," 
he  said;  "let's  go  to  that  little  village  towards 
Salder." 

"Very  well,"  she  said  agreeably;   "let  Js!" 

They  went  to  Lebenstedt,  and  reached  there  in 
about  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  Both  were  tired, 
for  the  ah-  had  thickened  and  filled  with  a  presage 
that  neither  noted,  although  both  felt  it.  The  walk 
had  not  been  an  unalloyed  joy.  The  strain  which 
was  stretching  through  the  relations  of  the  whole 
party  had  now  entwined  itself  firmly  around  this 
couple,  too. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  so  tired,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  exclaimed,  as 


224        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

they  crossed  the  last  field.  "We  must  stop  and  get 
some  coffee  here  surely.  Oh,  I  know  my  heel  is 
blistering." 

"Can't  you  do  something  for  it?"  the  man  asked, 
placidly.  He  did  n't  believe  her.  Or  her  heel.  Or 
her  blister. 

"  You  heartless  creature !  You  know,  really,  I  'm 
not  surprised  at  the  way  Lizzie  does  her  hair.  I 
would  n't  bother  about  my  looks  any  more  than  she 
does,  if  I  were  your  wife.  I  never  saw  such  a  man ! " 

"Haven't  you?" 

"No;  why,  you  haven't  even  the  least  bit  of  fun 
about  you.  I  really  should  have  had  more  fun  with 
Frank  this  morning." 

Dunn  was  suddenly  conscious  of  becoming  frankly 
tired  of  it  all. 

"When  are  you  and  Ellerslie  going?"  he  asked. 

She  started.    "  Going !    Going ! " 

"Yes,  going !    You  know  he  spoke  of  it  yesterday." 

She  stared  and  gasped  again.     "Why  —  why  —  " 

And  then  she,  too,  recognized  that  the  game  was 
over. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MRS.    ELLERSLIE    PACKS 

"I  THOUGHT  you  were  going  to  stay  a  long  time, 
did  n't  you,  Mrs.  Ellerslie?"  said  Bobby.  They  were 
all  dining. 

"No,  dear,"  said  that  lady,  with  a  tone  that  was 
the  attar  of  all  roses'  sweetness.  "  I  never  expected  to 
stay  very  long." 

"Why,  you  said  —  "  began  Bobby;  but  his  mother 
looked  at  him,  and  in  a  second  of  great  need  Mrs. 
Dunn  had  a  way  of  looking  at  Bobby  which 
silenced  even  that  agreeable  and  communicative 
conversationalist. 

"To  think  that  we  may  not  see  one  another  again 
for  ever  so  long,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  said  to  Mrs.  Dunn,  as 
they  went  up-stairs  after  dinner;  then,  shaking  her 
hard  by  the  elbow,  "my  dear,  you  don't  seem  to 
realize  the  fact  at  all." 

"Yes,  I  do  realize  it,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  biting  her 
lip. 

"Well,  aren't  you  sorry?" 

"  Of  course  I  'm  sorry,  only  I  can't  help  feeling  that 
you  have  n't  been  as  comfortable  as  you  might  be 
here.  But  that  has  n't  been  my  fault,  you  know." 

15 


"Of  course  it  hasn't  been  your  fault.  We  've  all 
felt  that,  and  we  've  all  appreciated  your  efforts  to 
try  and  make  life  endurable  for  us.  If  Frank  has  ever 
hurt  you  by  his  criticisms,  you  must  n't  mind,  because 
deep  down  hi  his  heart  he  knows  that  it  has  n't  been 
your  fault,  just  as  much  as  any  one." 

"Oh,  nothing  hurts  me,"  said  the  friend. 

"You'll  come  hi  and  help  me  pack,  won't  you, 
dear?  I  don't  mind  packing  when  the  trunks  have 
forms  to  set  on,  but  when  they  're  on  the  floor  it 
uses  me  up  awfully." 

"I  '11  come  hi  and  help  you  gladly,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
determined  to  stick  it  through  to  the  end  and  to  do  it 
with  a  smile,  too. 

Grace  and  Belden  had  set  out  for  Oelber-am- 
Weissen-Weg  directly  after  dinner,  and  Ellerslie  and 
Dunn  in  a  lovely  burst  of  renewed  benevolence 
towards  one  another  had  taken  Bobby  to  Salder. 
Salder,  in  some  mysterious  way,  had  become  the 
mysterious  Mecca  of  the  whole  party  when  at  a  loss 
where  to  go. 

"Not  that  there's  anything  to  see  there,"  said 
Ellerslie,  good-humoredly,  "but  I  always  get  out  of 
the  way  when  there  's  packing  to  be  done ;  women 
are  so  apt  to  leave  it  to  you  to  lock  the  trunks  if 
you  're  handy." 

Dunn  thought  him  a  selfish  brute,  but  made  no 
comment  other  than :  "I  always  insist  upon  locking 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE  PACKS  227 

all  the  trunks ;  I  never  let  my  wife  do  anything  that  I 
can  save  her.  That 's  why  we  're  in  Europe." 

"I  don't  call  Europe  saving,"  said  Ellerslie,  who 
was  calculating  the  train  time  to  Paris  and  paying 
almost  no  attention  to  Dunn's  conversation.  "  I  find 
it  just  as  expensive  over  here,  every  bit." 

"  But  not  in  Dichtenberg,"  said  Dunn. 

"  Oh,  no,  Dichtenberg  is  cheap  enough,  only  for  the 
time  it  takes  to  get  here  and  get  away.  But  we  shall 
never  be  in  a  place  like  Dichtenberg  again ;  we  Ve 
taken  a  vow  as  to  that." 

Dunn  was  silent. 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Dunn  was  working  hard  over  her 
friend's  trunks,  while  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  now  quite  her 
usual  unembarrassed  self  as  to  asking  and  receiving 
favors,  brought  her  things  that  should  have  gone  in 
the  bottom  and  asked  her  how  she  was  going  to  man- 
age them  on  top. 

"I  never  shall  try  a  place  like  this  again,"  she  said, 
rolling  up  a  pink  silk  sunshade  in  white  tissue  paper. 
"To  think  I  've  never  put  this  up  since  I  left  Harz- 
burg.  Do  you  know,  Lizzie,  I  cannot  see  whatever 
led  you  to  believe  that  Frank  and  I  could  be  going  to 
like  this  kind  of  thing?" 

"You  said  you  wanted  to  get  in  the  real  country 
for  a  little  while  and  rest.  You  wrote  me  so." 

"  Really.  Well,  if  you  took  it  that  way,  of  course, 
no  one  is  to  blame,  but  whatever  I  said  I  never  meant 


228        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

this  kind  of  country.  This  is  n't  my  kind  of  country 
at  all." 

Mrs.  Dunn  worked  in  silence. 

"Whenever  you  come  to  anything  of  yours,  just 
throw  it  on  the  sofa.  That 's  the  easiest  way  to  sort 
out.  To  think  that  day  after  to-morrow  I  '11  be  in 
the  Rue  de  Rivoli !  It  seems  too  good  to  be  true." 

"Shall  you  stay  in  Paris  long?" 

"  I  don't  know ;  as  long  as  we  're  having  a  good 
time.  Long  enough  to  take  the  taste  of  Dichtenberg 
out  of  our  mouths,  anyway.  I  wonder  how  long  Will 
is  going  to  stay  here." 

"Through  October,  I  think." 

"Through  October!" 

"Yes." 

"Not  alone,  surely." 

"  No,  we  're  all  going  to  stay." 

" Lizzie \    Do  you  like  it  as  much  as  that?" 

Mrs.  Dunn  looked  up.  "  I  'm  crazy  about  it,"  she 
said,  briefly. 

There  was  a  little  silence.  "Oh,  well,  if  you  feel 
that  way,"  her  friend  said,  presently,  "of  course,  it 
is  a  pretty  country,  no  one  can  deny  that.  Is  Miss 
Waters  going  to  stay,  too?" 

"Yes,  she  is  n't  very  strong,  and  her  mother  thinks 
it  will  do  her  a  great  deal  of  good." 

There  was  another  short  silence ;  then  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
said,  trying  to  speak  naturally  and  failing  utterly: 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE  PACKS  229 

"  I  'm  afraid  I  have  n't  given  you  full  credit  for  all 
your  cleverness,  Lizzie ;  you  've  done  wonders.  If 
there  was  one  thing  that  I  thought  Will  Belden  did 
appreciate  at  its  full  value,  it  was  beautiful  hair,  but 
he  's  decided  to  abandon  even  that  now,  apparently." 

Mrs.  Dunn  made  no  reply;  she  had  made  up  her 
mind  to  let  nothing  mar  these  last  sweet  hours. 

"Of  course,  Will  has  a  villainous  temper,"  Nellie 
Ellerslie  went  on,  looking  out  of  the  window,  "  and  a 
flirt  is  a  flirt  till  he  dies,  but  if  you  don't  mind  leading 
a  young  girl  to  take  such  chances,  I  certainly  don't 
see  why  I  should." 

Mrs.  Dunn  drew  a  sharp  little  breath,  but  said 
nothing. 

"Why,  there  are  your  bedroom  slippers  up  on  top 
of  the  wardrobe,"  Mrs.  Ellerslie  exclaimed  suddenly. 
"  I  'd  entirely  forgotten  taking  them  that  day  I  mis- 
laid mine.  Frank  thought  they  must  be  the  cook's 
and  threw  them  up  there." 

"I  '11  be  glad  to  have  them  again,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn, 
meekly.  "  I  have  n't  any  others  with  me,  and  the 
floors  are  so  cold  mornings  when  I  go  to  wake  Bobby." 

"  Yes,  of  course ;  how  you  must  have  missed  them  ! 
I  'm  so  sorry.  And  here  's  your  bottle  of  ammonia  ; 
we  've  used  all  the  ammonia,  but  it  says  what  am- 
monia is  in  German  on  the  bottle,  so  you  '11  have  no 
difficulty  getting  more." 

"I  'm  much  obliged  for  the  bottle,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 


"  Don't  mention  it ;  we  're  the  ones  to  be  obliged. 
And,  oh,  my  dear,  I  'm  going  to  pack  this  spirit  lamp 
if  you  can  stick  it  in  anywhere;  it 's  so  handy." 

"I  '11  make  a  place,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

"You  don't  want  four  of  these  cheap  spirit  lamps, 
I  know,  and  really  I  don't  know  how  we  ever  got 
along  without  one.  .  We  have  you  to  thank  for 
teaching  us  the  comfort  of  a  spirit  lamp.  I  '11  never 
be  without  one  again." 

"I  'm  sure  you  're  more  than  welcome  to  it,"  said 
her  friend;  "I  always  have  one  with  me." 

So  the  packing  went  on  and  on,  until  towards  four 
o'clock  it  was  mainly  all  in. 

"Do  hurry  and  make  tea  now,  Lizzie,"  said  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  from  the  bed  where  she  had  laid  herself  out 
while  Ellerslie's  clothes  were  being  folded  in  their 
turn ;  "  nothing  uses  me  up  like  packing,  and  I  'm 
going  to  just  snatch  a  wee  little  nap  while  tea  is 
brewing.  You  know  I  must  not  get  too  tired  out 
with  that  long  journey  before  me  to-morrow." 

"I  think  that  will  be  the  very  best  thing  you 
can  do,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  and  she  took  her  various 
belongings  up  in  the  front  of  her  dress-skirt  and 
departed. 

Ellerslie,  safely  returned  from  the  expedition  to 
Salder,  came  in  a  little  later  and  woke  his  wife.  He 
did  n't  know  whether  he  was  impatient  to  be  gone  or 
mad  at  the  feebly  restrained  buoyant  spirits  of  those 


MRS.  ELLERSLIE  PACKS  231 

they  were  leaving  behind,  but  anyway  he  woke  his 
wife. 

"Is  tea  ready?"  she  asked  sleepily.  "Oh,  I 
did  n't  see  who  it  was." 

"What  man  did  you  think  it  might  be?" 

"Frank,  I  beg  and  implore  you,  don't  be  cross. 
I  'm  almost  dead  with  the  packing,  and  Lizzie  stayed 
in  the  room  and  chattered  until  I  'm  sure  I  have  n't 
an  idea  where  she  —  I  mean  where  I  —  put  a  thing." 

"Why  did  n't  you  send  her  away?" 

"How  could  I?  When  I  'm  going  to-morrow  and 
she  's  my  dearest  friend.  Only  between  ourselves, 
she  's  not  my  dearest  friend  any  more,  but  I  don't 
mean  to  tell  her  so." 

"  You  'd  better  get  up  and  dress  for  tea.  We  've 
got  to  grind  through  these  last  hours  somehow,  you 
know." 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  sat  up.  "Put  on  my  slippers,  dear," 
she  said;  "oh,  I  gave  Lizzie  back  hers.  She  didn't 
even  have  sense  enough  to  blush  with  shame  as  she 
took  them.  Such  slippers.  Sixes,  I  'm  sure." 

"She  's  got  more  sense  than  he  has,  anyhow,"  said 
Ellerslie. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  nodded  her  acquiescence  in  that 
opinion. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SAY  "AU  REVOIR" 

THE  start  next  day  had  to  be  an  early  one,  as  it  was 
necessary  to  get  into  Hildesheim  in  time  to  get  the 
Paris  Express  from  St.  Petersburg}].. 

"I  shall  just  hate  it  if  the  corridors  are  all  stuffed 
up  with  those  horrid  Russians'  hand-luggage,"  said 
Mrs.  Ellerslie  to  Belden,  as  her  pretty  little  high- 
heeled  boots  clicked  through  Dichtenberg  for  the  last 
time.  "  I  don't  see  why  Russians  have  so  much  hand- 
luggage.  I  don't  see  how  it 's  allowed."  She  spoke 
with  great,  earnestness  and  wore  her  most  beaming 
smile  straight  through,  for  she  was  now  as  deter- 
mined as  Mrs.  Dunn  had  ever  been  that  the  end 
should  pass  smoothly  by. 

"I  suppose  that  they  can't  help  it,"  said  Will,  who 
was  walking  with  her.  He  was  also  fully  decided  to 
do  his  share  in  the  Peace  Conference.  "I  suppose 
that  they  would  if  they  could." 

"  It 's  beautiful  out  at  this  time  in  the  morning, 
is  n't  it?  I  really  do  love  the  country." 

"  I  think  that  every  one  does." 

"No,  not  every  one.  Frank  just  hates  it.  Frank 's 
the  greatest  dear,  though,"  she  added,  quickly. 


SAY  "AU  REVOIR"  233 

Belden  said  nothing  to  that. 

"  Grace  Waters  is  such  a  sweet  girl,  I  think,"  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  prattled  on  presently.  "  It 's  too  bad  that 
she  's  so  delicate.  But  girls  with  thin  light  hair  like 
that  never  are  very  strong,  I  Ve  been  told." 

Belden  continued  silent. 

"And  Lizzie  tells  me  you're  all  going  to  stay 
through  October,"  she  continued.  "What  a  good 
time  you  '11  have !  Of  course  the  bedrooms  will  be 
dreadfully  cold,  but  you  can  have  a  fire  in  that  little 
room  down-stairs.  That  will  take  that  awful  damp 
out  of  the  air.  It 's  going  to  be  so  damp,  you  know  ; 
it  always  rains  right  straight  through  October." 

And  still  Belden  kept  silent. 

"Shall  you  be  home  for  Christmas,  Will?" 

Then  he  spoke.  "  I  don't  know,  I  'm  sure ;  I  Ve 
no  plans,"  he  said,  pleasantly. 

"Well,  you  know  where  you  can  come  for  dinner 
if  you  do  get  back.  The  usual  turkey  with  plum- 
dressing  and  oyster-sauce,  and  all  the  rest  of  it." 

"Thank  you  ever  so  much,"  said  the  man. 

Then  the  Molkerei  kept  her  still  for  eighty  seconds. 

"Thank  heaven  I  'm  leaving  that,  too,"  she  ejacu- 
lated, as  soon  as  they  were  by.  "Oh,  Will,  I  have 
suffered  here ;  no  one  will  ever  know  all  I  Ve 
suffered." 

"It  must  have  been  hard  on  you!"  said  Belden, 
with  feeling. 


234        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"  Oh,  it 's  been  so  hard ;  but  I  like  them  both, 
anyhow.  Of  course,  he  's  stupid  and  she  's  plain, 
but  they  mean  well,  and  people  like  that  fill  a  place 
in  the  world,  don't  they?" 

"They  certainly  do,"  said  Belden. 

"Yes,  I  always  know  that  you  agree  with  me  in 
my  opinion  of  people.  We  've  always  felt  just  the 
same  about  people,  always.  That 's  why  I  was  just 
a  wee  bit  surprised  at  first  over  your  fancying  Miss 
Waters.  She  isn't  the  one  I  should  pick  out  for 
you.  I  know  a  girl  in  Buffalo  who  would  be  just  the 
one,  but  of  course  it 's  too  late  now." 

"I  don't  know  that  it's  too  late,"  said  Belden, 
looking  steadily  at  the  windmill.  "Can  you  get  me 
a  photograph?" 

"You  funny  man!  No,  of  course  I  can't.  And 
she  had  n't  any  money,  anyway,  and  Miss  Waters 
has  some,  so  that  would  make  her  the  right  one  in 
any  case." 

The  dull  red  crept  up  over  Will  Belden's  tanned 
face;  he  looked  at  the  windmill  more  steadily  than 
ever.  "Perhaps  I  'd  better  tell  you,"  he  said,  slowly; 
"my  grandfather  left  me  some  money  last  month. 
That 's  why  I  can  think  of  marrying  now.  I  could  n't 
before.  My  salary  was  n't  big  enough  —  consuls  don't 
get  much,  you  know." 

"Is  your  grandfather  dead?  oh,  how  nice!"  Mrs. 
Ellerslie's  sincerity  was  very  much  to  the  fore 


SAY  "AU  REVOIR"  235 

again.  "That  alters  everything,  doesn't  it?  I  'm  so 
pleased." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Belden,  quietly  and  simply. 

They  turned  in  over  the  gravel  by  the  station. 
The  luggage  had  been  gotten  down  in  detachments 
and  was  ready  to  weigh.  Mrs.  EUerslie  deserted 
Belden  and  slipped  her  hand  through  Mrs.  Dunn's 
arm  and  drew  her  out  of  hearing. 

"My  dear,"  she  said,  very  low,  "Will  made  a 
clean  breast  of  the  whole  affair  to  me  coming  down. 
It 's  just  as  I  thought ;  it 's  her  money." 

"Is  it?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  looking  as  interested  as 
was  possible  for  her  under  the  circumstances.  "  It 's 
nice  she  has  money,  then,  is  n't  it?" 

"Y-yes,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  not  so  very  certain 
as  to  how  to  take  that.  "  It 's  always  nice  to  have 
money." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  turning  to  see  if  the 
signal  for  the  tram  was  up.  It  was  n't. 

"No,  Will  hasn't  come  out  yet,"  said  Mrs.  Ellers- 
lie ;  "  is  n't  it  odd,  dear,  how  if  one  ever  has  been 
interested  in  a  man  the  interest  holds?  You  can't 
help  showing  your  old  sentiment  for  Wrill  no  matter 
how  you  try.  It  crops  out  when  you  're  not  thinking. 
Frank  has  noticed  it  and  spoken  of  it  so  often," 

Ellerslie  came  hurrying  up.  Will  Belden  had 
stayed  behind  to  light  a  cigarette.  Ellerslie  offered 
Mrs.  Dunn  his  hand.  "  Good-bye,"  he  said,  "  I  'm 


236        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

sure  you  've  been  very  —  er  —  kind  and  all  that, 
you  know." 

"Oh,  don't  mention  it,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  fairly 
beaming.  For  she  could  see  the  train  approaching. 

Mrs.  Ellerslie  threw  her  arms  around  her  friend's 
neck  and  was  about  to  give  her  an  affectionate  parting 
hug,  but  stopped  suddenly,  perceiving  that  she  would 
spoil  the  ends  of  her  long  pink  tulle  traveling  scarf  if 
she  did  so.  So  Mrs.  Dunn  got  a  kiss  and  a  grab  at 
her  shoulders  instead.  " Good-bye,  dear;  do  take 
care  of  yourself.  Don't  overdo,  working  for  others. 
It 's  a  real  failing  of  yours,  Lizzie,  and  the  people 
who  let  you  overwork  don't  like  you  one  bit  the 
better  for  it,  remember."  Then  she  added,  in  a 
hasty  whisper:  "And  do  look  out  about  Will's  com- 
ing in  and  borrowing,  won't  you,  dear?  He  has  just 
kept  Frank  furious  this  whole  fortnight  with  his  ways. 
Oh,  I  have  had  a  hard  time ! " 

"I  '11  look  out,"  Mrs.  Dunn  promised. 

They  all  turned  to  watch  the  train  come  in.  It 
didn't  take  the  travelers  long  to  get  aboard.  Mrs. 
Ellerslie  appeared  at  once  at  the  window;  she  was  a 
beautiful  picture  with  her  face  framed  in  the  soft 
pink  tulle.  Ellerslie  stood  just  behind  her.  Both 
smiled  brightly. 

"Remember  me  to  them  all  when  you  get  back," 
said  Mrs.  Ellerslie.  "Kiss  dear  little  Bobby  for 
me." 


SAY  "AU  REVOIR"  237 

The  train  does  n't  stop  very  long  at  Dichtenberg ; 
it  was  moving  on  by  this  time. 

"Good-bye,"  cried  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  waving  one  end 
of  the  pink  scarf  and  leaning  out  a  little;  "good-bye, 
Will!" 

"Good-bye,"  Belden  yelled  after  her. 

The  tram  moved  off  and  away;  the  morning  mist 
was  rising  softly,  drifting  this  way  and  that  over  the 
plowed  fields.  In  some  places  it  was  as  thick  as  a 
snow-cloud,  hi  others  transparent,  a  mere  silvery 
sheen.  The  red  roofs  of  the  village  were  piled  up 
without  any  perspective  among  the  green  shadows  of 
their  trees,  and  the  great  outlines  of  the  Burgberg 
and  its  sister  hills  went  rolling  off  above. 

"Is  n't  it  all  unutterably  lovely?"  Mrs.  Dunn  said, 
pausing  as  she  spoke;  "oh,  I  never  saw  anything 
like  that  before." 

"  I  was  just  thinking  the  same  thing,"  said  Belden, 
"and  then  I  wondered  if  it  really  was  the  prettiest 
view  I  'd  ever  seen,  or  whether  it  was  just  that  — 
that—" 

Mrs.  Dunn  laughed  lightly.  "A  little  of  both,  per- 
haps," she  said,  gayly.  "But  we  must  n't  mind  the 
things  she  said.  I  don't  believe  that  she  remembers 
what  she  says  herself  from  day  to  day.  Lots  of 
women  are  like  that." 

"As  if  gossiping  ever  cemented  friendship.  Well, 
I  don't  know  that  I  regret  the  past  fortnight.  It 's 


238        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

given  me  a  lot  to  think  about  and  taught  me  some 
mighty  big  lessons." 

"I  think  I  can  say  the  same,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 
"  Bob  and  I  agreed  last  night  to  never  let  even  Bobby 
hear  us  differ  again.  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  be- 
cause we  didn't  behave  so  very  well  ourselves  at 
first.  I  was  so  vexed  over  his  taking  Bobby  out  of 
school,  and  then  I  was  a  little  hurt,  too,  over  no 
one's  appreciating  the  way  I  worked." 

"We  were  an  ungrateful  lot,  that  we  were,"  said 
Belden;  "but  we  've  learned  that  lesson,  too." 

They  walked  swiftly  along  the  level  roadway,  where 
the  apple-trees  were  hanging  full  of  ripe  fruit. 

"Everything  looks  so  beautiful  —  so  good  to  me 
this  morning,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said;  "it  seems  another 
world.  The  woods  are  going  to  be  different  from 
what  they  have  been.  I  won't  have  to  fuss  and  worry 
any  more.  I  feel  almost  as  if  my  old  self  had  vanished 
with  that  train  and  left  a  new  happy  self  instead." 

"I  feel  the  same  way  exactly,"  said  the  man. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   PICNIC 

BELDEN  and  his  companion  climbed  the  hill  slowly 
and  happily.  Once  the  man  took  out  his  handker- 
chief and  waved  it  towards  Hildesheim. 

"How  silly !"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  laughing. 

"But  I  feel  silly,"  he  protested.  "I  feel  too  buoy- 
antly silly  for  words.  I  'd  like  to  hang  upside  down 
over  a  bar  the  way  Bobby  does,  or  do  something 
equally  jolly  by  way  of  expressing  my  feelings.  To 
think  I  '11  be  able  to  tree  my  shoes  again  and  keep 
the  trees !  Oh !  " 

"  I  'm  afraid  we  '11  grow  very  untidy,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn,  thoughtfully;  "it  certainly  keeps  a  room  neat 
when  you  lock  everything  up  to  go  to  lunch." 

They  passed  the  duck-pond,  they  passed  the  covered 
resting-bench,  they  even  climbed  the  steeper  part,  but 
neither  murmured. 

"How  quiet  the  hotel  looks,"  Belden  said,  as  they 
came  in  sight  of  it. 

"So  peaceful,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn. 

They  found  a  surprise  picnic  getting  up  steam  with 
a  vengeance.  Dunn  was  assisting  Bobby  to  master 


240       JUST   BETWEEN   THEMSELVES 

the  primary  intricacies  of  getting  a  donkey  into  the 
shafts  of  a  donkey-cart,  and  Grace  Waters,  in  a 
sailor  suit  of  brown  linen,  was  counting  out  what 
they  'd  have  to  take  with  them  on  the  table  in  the 
private  dining-room. 

"Are  they  gone?"  Dunn  called,  from  the  scene  of 
his  labors,  and  his  wife  at  once  deserted  to  his  side 
and  left  Belden  to  seek  Grace's. 

"Yes,  they  're  really  gone,"  she  said,  touching  her 
husband's  hair  affectionately,  where  he  was  stooping 
to  devise  new  tugs  out  of  rope.  "  Oh,  Bob,  I  'm  so 
happy!" 

Dunn  looked  up  at  her  and  smiled.  "It 's  been  a 
hard  pull  for  you,  little  woman,"  he  said,  kindly. 
"I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  did  ail  everybody." 
He  had  n't  a  doubt  but  that  he  was  quite  sincere. 

"I  don't  think  Mrs.  Ellerslie  liked  so  many  people 
around,"  said  Bobby,  folding  the  donkey's  ears  across 
his  eyes.  "She  never  liked  it  when  anybody  else 
came  up,  did  she,  Papa?" 

"Well,  she  '11  have  Frank  all  to  herself,  now,"  said 
his  mother,  cheerfully.  "Oh,  I'm  so  glad  they're 
gone!" 

"Papa,"  said  Bobby,  "if  Mamma's  tired  she  can 
ride  in  the  cart,  and  I  '11  ride  on  the  donkey.  I  'd 
just  as  soon.  Then  if  my  feet  are  muddy  I  can  wi  e 
them  on  his  hind-legs." 

The  cook  came  just  here  to  ask  if  three  hard-boiled 


THE  PICNIC  241 

eggs  apiece  beside  the  cold  meat  would  be  enough, 
and  if  there  would  be  room  to  carry  some  bread  for 
Hans.  Hans  was  the  donkey. 

"  Oh,  my,  but  I  'm  glad  I  'm  not  hi  school  in 
Hanover  to-day,"  said  Bobby,  ecstatically.  "I  never 
did  think  much  of  going  to  school." 

Belden  and  Grace  came  out  on  to  the  gravel  just 
then,  laughing  like  two  children. 

"What  is  it?"  Dunn  asked. 

"It's  nothing,"  said  Belden,  "only  we're  all  un- 
commonly happy." 

Mrs.  Dunn  laughed  with  them.  "  I  believe  I  '11  go 
in  and  curl  my  front  hair,"  she  said.  "I  haven't 
dared  curl  it  before,  for  fear  I  'd  be  accused  of  wanting 
to  elope  with  Frank  Ellerslie." 

"And  I  believe  I'll  take  off  my  coronet  braid," 
said  Grace.  "I've  never  dared  appear  without  it, 
for  fear  Mrs.  Ellerslie  would  think  it  was  n't 
mine." 

"She  knew  it  wasn't  yours,"  said  Bobby;  "she 
talked  about  it  all  the  time." 

There  was  nothing  to  do  but  laugh  some  more 
over  that,  and  then  the  two  women  went  into  the 
house. 

"Isn't  it  too  lovely  to  think  we  can  leave  our 
things  lying  all  about  now?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn;  "oh 
dear,  and  I  was  so  fond  of  Nellie  before,  too." 

"I  never  could  quite  make  her  out,"  said  Grace; 

16 


242        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"she  always  seemed  to  mean  the  things  when  she 
said  them." 

"You  must  n't  pay  any  attention  to  anything  she 
ever  said  to  you  about  Will,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  "Will 
never  will  pay  attention  to  anything  that  she  said 
about  you." 

Mrs.  Dunn,  in  spite  of  all  her  good  intentions,  still 
remained  subject  to  the  law  that  made  her  not  able 
to  cease  being  herself,  but  she  meant  so  well  that 
Grace  took  the  word  at  face  value  for  the  deed  and 
readily  promised  what  was  asked. 

"I  never  did  believe  her,"  she  added,  afterwards. 

"  I  wonder  which  of  them  told  the  truth  about  some 
things,  though,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  proceeding  to  curl 
her  hair ;  "  they  never  agreed  on  anything,  you  know." 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Grace.  "He  didn't  strike 
me  as  being  a  bit  more  careful  in  his  statements  than 
she  was." 

"  I  'm  so  glad  it 's  all  over,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said. 

The  procession  got  off  about  twelve.  The  forester's 
dog,  the  poodle,  and  a  little  busybody  who  was  always 
about,  although  no  one  owned  him,  joined  the  party 
unasked.  Bobby  drove  the  donkey  with  a  father  and 
a  mother  holding  the  bit  on  either  side.  Even  Bobby's 
par  value  seemed  to  have  risen  through  the  late 
circumstances. 

Grace  and  Belden  walked  behind.  They  had  pretty 
well  made  up  their  minds  to  risk  it,  anyhow,  but  still 


THE  PICNIC  243 

the  sight  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dunn's  bonne  camaraderie 
was  cheering. 

It  was  the  most  beautiful  day  that  Dichtenberg, 
old  as  it  is,  had  ever  seen.  The  atmosphere  was  so 
clear  that  every  one  of  the  fifteen  cozy  little  red- 
roofed  villages  could  be  clearly  counted  on  the  plain. 
The  woods  were  just  getting  golden  and  flamed  in 
glints  and  flecks,  and  the  road  was  bronze  with  soft, 
dry,  dead  leaves  through  which  the  feet  of  the  party 
swish-swished  softly. 

"We  must  go  up  on  the  tower  when  we  get  back 
and  see  the  sunset,"  Belden  called. 

"Good  idea,"  Dunn  called  in  reply.  Neither  he 
nor  Mrs.  Dunn  turned  around;  there  was  really  no 
limit  to  the  desire  of  every  one  to  be  agreeable. 

"See  how  pretty  and  bright  the  trees  towards  the 
plain  are,  and  how  dark  and  green  the  shadow  is 
ahead,"  said  Grace. 

"It  was  funny  about  the  Ellerslies,"  Belden  said, 
thoughtfully,  shuffling  his  feet  through  the  dried  yel- 
low and  brown  leaves.  "I  never  realized  that  mar- 
ried people  could  make  one  another  and  everybody 
else  so  uncomfortable  before.  I  've  often  seen  hus- 
bands and  wives  very  mean  to  one  another,  but  I  Ve 
never  in  my  life  seen  so  many  different  varieties  of 
painful  situations  as  in  the  past  two  weeks." 

"But  were  n't  they  always  like  that?" 

"No,  it  never  struck  me  that  they  were.    But,  of 


244        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

course,  I  've  never  lived  right  under  the  same  roof 
with  them  before.  That 's  the  kind  of  business  that 
proves  people  up." 

"I  think  they  made  it  pretty  hard  for  Mrs.  Dunn/' 
said  Grace;  "but  we  all  did  that,"  she  added. 

"  Yes,  I  fancy  she  has  n't  had  any  too  good  a  time 
so  far,  but  it 's  all  straightened  out  now." 

"I'm  sorry  they  broke  her  hot-water  bag,"  the 
girl  said.  She  wondered,  suddenly,  if  her  feet  would 
get  cold  up  on  the  tower  watching  the  sunset.  Like 
Mrs.  Dunn,  she  was  still  herself.  Tried  and  sweetened 
by  observation  and  good  resolutions,  but  still  very 
much  herself. 

"I  wrote  to  Hildesheim  for  two  hot-water  bags 
yesterday,"  said  Belden;  "they'll  come  to-night  or 
to-morrow,  I  hope." 

"Oh,  how  nice!  How  thoughtful  of  you!"  said 
the  girl,  turning  to  look  admiringly  up  at  him.  "Oh, 
there's  a  rabbit!"  she  added,  quickly,  for  her  com- 
panion's glance  was  disconcerting ;  "  there  are  so  many 
rabbits  about  here,"  she  went  on,  hurriedly,  for  the 
glance  was  still  enduring. 

"  I  suppose  they  're  on  the  Paris  Schnellzug  'way 
past  Minden  by  this  time,"  Belden  said,  finally;  "not 
the  rabbits,"  he  added,  laughing. 

Grace  laughed,  too  (it  was  so  easy  for  them  all  to 
laugh  to-day).  "No,  they  're  in  Hildesheim,"  she  said 
gayly.  "  They  don't  take  the  train  till  this  afternoon." 


THE  PICNIC  245 

(They  were  in  Hildesheim,  dining  happily  at  the 
Weinerhof,  with  so  many  German  officers  about  that 
Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  in  the  finest  possible  flavor,  al- 
though all  she  said  was:  "Oh,  Frank,  how  horrid  in 
these  men  to  stare  so ;  you  'd  think  they  'd  never 
seen  a  pink  chiffon  scarf  before ! ") 

"Well,  wherever  they  are,  I  hope  they're  very 
happy,"  Belden  said,  charitably. 

"But  do  you  think  they're  ever  so  happy  as  we 
are?"  Grace  asked,  and  then  blushed  furiously. 

"That  isn't  possible!"  said  Belden,  with  a  tender 
inflection. 

"Oh  —  oh  —  oh,  I  thought  that  was  a  rabbit," 
said  the  girl,  and  then  ensued  one  of  those  delight- 
fully thrilling  pauses  which  help  make  love-affairs  so 
individual,  so  different  from  the  way  that  any  others 
have  ever  felt  before  or  will  ever  feel  again. 

And  now  the  little  party  was  passing  down  the 
road  which  holds  the  center  of  that  pretty  valley  that 
stretches  to  just  beyond  Schloss  Oelber.  The  peas- 
ants were  plowing  the  fields  to  left  and  right,  and 
the  three  dogs  ranged  wildly,  scaring  up  long-tailed, 
brilliant-hued  pheasants  by  accident,  and  chasing 
stray  rabbits  madly  into  the  woods.  Far,  far  ahead, 
the  trees  of  the  park  of  Oelber  rose  in  softly  circling, 
bushy  curves  against  the  sky,  and  the  tower  showed 
sharply  among  their  green. 

They  finally  arrived  at  their  destination,  and  the 


246        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

whole  of  the  picnic  was  forthwith  safely  deposited 
under  a  large,  spreading  tree. 

"Now,  Bobby,"  said  his  father,  "if  you'll  come 
with  Papa,  he  '11  show  you  just  how  to  tie  the  donkey, 
so  you  '11  know  another  time." 

Bobby  went  with  his  father  to  learn  how  to  tie  a 
donkey,  and  Belden  assisted  Mrs.  Dunn  and  Grace  to 
spread  out  the  rugs  and  get  the  kettle  onto  its  feet 
and  the  spirit  lamp  lighted. 

"I  'm  so  hungry,"  he  said,  for  he  was  still  a  man. 

"You  '11  have  something  to  eat  in  just  a  few  min- 
utes," said  Grace,  already  in  training  for  wifehood. 

"  Oh,  Mamma,  we  tied  him,"  cried  Bobby,  running 
up.  "Oh,  Mamma,  you  ought  to  see  him;  he  's  eat- 
ing grass  just  exactly  the  same  way  he  does  at  home, 
isn't  he,  Papa?" 

"Is  he,  dear?  I  'm  so  glad,"  said  his  mother,  set- 
ting out  the  cups  and  plates. 

"You  know  the  donkey  will  teach  the  boy  so 
he  '11  know  just  how  to  handle  a  horse  when  the  time 
comes,"  said  Dunn  to  Belden. 

"Only  a  horse  won't  walk  all  the  time,  will  he, 
Papa?"  said  Bobby,  "and  he  won't  have  his  tail 
shaved,  neither," 

It  was  warm  and  delightfully  sunshiny  where  they 
were.  The  exquisite  neatness  and  order  of  the  Ger- 
man forest  surrounded  them  on  three  sides,  and  on 
the  fourth  they  looked  out  upon  the  exquisite  neat- 


THE  PICNIC  247 

ness  and  order  of  German  farming.  The  grain  and 
the  sugar-beets  had  all  been  harvested,  and  all  the 
roads  swept  after  the  litter.  The  apples  had  been 
gathered  from  the  fruit-trees  which  bordered  the 
highway,  and  a  man  was  making  his  way  slowly 
along,  whitewashing  all  the  trunks.  There  comes  the 
day  in  every  German  autumn  when  every  fruit-tree 
in  the  whole  land  receives  a  coat  of  cleanliness  and 
protection,  and  this  was  that  day  in  the  Dichtenberger 
Domdne. 

"The  kettle  is  beginning  to  bubble,  Mamma," 
Bobby  said;  "can  we  eat  now?" 

"Just  a  minute,"  said  his  mother,  giving  him  a 
buttered  Brotchen  to  keep  him  still,  and  then  she  put 
the  tea  in  the  teapot  and  made  the  tea. 

(Mrs.  Ellerslie  was  just  then  saying  to  her  husband : 
"  Frank,  dear,  do  you  suppose  that  we  shall  ever  get 
the  taste  of  that  horrible  tea  out  of  our  mouths 
again?"  and  Frank  Ellerslie  was  replying:  "The 
tea  was  n't  so  bad  in  itself,  but  it  was  the  way  that 
she  made  it ! ") 

Then  they  all  began  on  the  essence  of  what  makes 
a  picnic  a  picnic,  and  it  really  was  astonishing  how 
good  everything  tasted.  It  did  n't  seem  possible  to 
attribute  it  all  to  the  fact  that  the  Ellerslies  were 
gone ;  it  seemed  as  if  some  of  the  joy  must  be  due  to 
the  appetites  and  the  air. 

"Well,"  said  Dunn,  as  he  opened  the  beer,  "get 


248        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

out  the  glasses  now,  and  we  '11  drink  long  life  and 
happiness  to  the  travelers." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Belden;  "and  we'll  drink  to 
ourselves,  too." 

"Papa,"  said  Bobby,  his  mouth  just  pleasantly 
full,  "can  I  take  the  donkey-cart  back  to  America 
with  me?" 

"Oh,  look  at  that  squirrel,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn; 
"is  n't  he  cunning?  I  always  love  to  watch  squirrels 
run  up  a  tree." 

"There  's  something  on  the  back  of  my  neck,"  said 
Belden;  "what  is  it,  Bobby?" 

Bobby  laid  down  what  he  had  in  his  hands,  got 
leisurely  up,  and  looked.  "Oh,"  he  said,  making  a 
fearful  face,  "  it 's  a  worm  going  right  along  down. 
Oh,  don't  it  look  awful?" 

There  was  quite  a  good  deal  of  excitement  before 
Dunn  had  disposed  of  the  worm. 

"Are  you  really  as  afraid  of  them  as  that?"  Mrs. 
Dunn  asked  the  worm's  victim,  as  he  returned  to 
his  seat  deathly  white. 

"They  make  me  horrid  sick,"  he  said,  apologeti- 
cally. By  that  time  the  donkey  had  slipped  his  bridle 
and  required  immediate  attention.  You  see,  it  was 
a  regular  picnic. 

"Can  I  have  just  one  more  cup  of  tea?"  Grace 
asked.  "  Oh,  never  mind,  if  there  is  n't  any  more." 

"I  thought  every  one  was  through,"  said  the  host- 


THE  PICNIC  249 

ess;  "it  won't  take  a  second  to  light  the  spirit  lamp 
again." 

"You  've  had  quite  enough  tea,"  said  Belden,  with 
a  fascinating  sound  of  having  the  right  to  be  authori- 
tative in  his  words ;  "  you  don't  want  any  more." 

Grace  blushed.    "  No,  I  don't,  really,"  she  said. 

"I  '11  tell  you  what  you  two  had  better  do,"  said 
Mrs.  Dunn;  "go  and  take  a  walk  while  I  clear  up 
all  this.  Bob  and  Bobby  are  going  to  hunt  mush- 
rooms." 

"Not  the  poisonous  kind,"  said  Bobby.  "Papa 
must  carry  the  book.  I  don't  want  to  be  poisoned, 
do  you,  Papa?" 

"But  can't  I  help  you  with  the  picking  up?"  Grace 
asked,  as  people  always  ask. 

"No,  my  dear,  I  can  do  it  easier  alone,"  Mrs.  Dunn 
answered,  as  the  one  who  does  the  work  invariably 
answers.  "  Do  go  on ;  it 's  so  beautiful  in  the  woods 
at  this  time." 

They  strolled  slowly  away. 

It  was  indeed  beautiful  hi  the  woods.  Woods  ab- 
solutely free  from  flies,  mosquitoes,  and  underbrush, 
are  almost  Paradise  hi  any  case,  but  the  Dichten- 
berger  Wald,  with  its  mother-growth  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago,  was  a  sort  of  essence  of  ideal 
conditions,  and  all  it  needed  to  fulfill  the  dream 
was  an  Adam  and  an  Eve. 

Belden  and  Grace  had  too  many  advantages  over 


250        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

their  first  ancestors  to  envy  them,  even  if  any  pair 
of  lovers  ever  yet  envied  any  dead  and  gone  married 
couple,  but  they  certainly  emulated  them  as  they 
wandered  down  the  wide  green  road  that  passes 
along  to  Oelber  this  way.  For  the  time  being  no  one 
and  nothing  existed  except  themselves,  and  the  won- 
der of  beauty,  of  silence,  and  of  love. 

"  It 's  so  pretty  in  the  woods/'  the  girl  said,  over 
and  over  again.  "  Oh,  see,  there  's  a  rabbit ! " 

"  I  'm  awfully  fond  of  the  country,"  Belden  replied 
each  time,  and  was  perfectly  content  with  the  limited 
output  of  their  united  brains. 

They  walked  on  and  on.  He  crowded  her  almost 
into  the  ditch  most  of  the  time,  but  that  does  n't 
signify  lack  of  either  manners  or  consideration  when 
people  are  in  love. 

"  Oh,  there  's  another  rabbit ! "  she  said  once,  when 
he  turned  and  looked  at  her  in  an  unutterably  em- 
barrassing but  altogether  delightful  way.  "  There  — 
there  are  so  many  rabbits." 

"Do  look  out  for  that  stone,"  he  said,  putting  his 
hand  on  her  arm.  "Oh,  there  's  no  use  talking;  it 
is  pretty  in  these  woods." 

"I  can  walk  alone  easiest,"  she  said,  blushing  deep 
crimson.  " It  —  it 's  just  a  perfect  day  —  is  n't  it?" 

"I  never  saw  such  a  day,"  said  Belden;  "it 's  the 
most  beautiful  day  that  I  've  ever  seen." 

"  Oh,  there  's  a  rabbit ! "  said  the  girl. 


THE  PICNIC  251 

They  came  out  finally  opposite  the  park  of  Oelber. 

"I'd  no  idea  we'd  walked  so  far,"  said  Belden; 
"you  must  be  tired  to  death.  What  a  brute  I  am!" 

"  I  'm  not  a  bit  tired,  not  a  bit,"  she  protested. 
But  he  insisted  on  their  sitting  down  in  the  edge  of 
the  woods  for  a  little. 

Belden  got  out  his  cigarette  case  and  lit  a  cigar- 
ette, and  Grace  clasped  her  hands  in  her  lap.  There 
were  no  rabbits.  "Oh,  there  's  a  pheasant,"  she  ex- 
claimed. It  did  just  as  well. 

"What  a  gorgeous  time  we  shall  have  next  month ! " 
Belden  said.  "I  never  looked  forward  so  much  to 
anything  in  my  life." 

"It 's  nice  Bobby  has  the  donkey-cart,"  said  Grace. 

"He  's  such  a  nice  little  boy,"  said  Belden. 

"Oh,  he  's  a  dear,"  said  the  girl. 

Then  another  thrilling  pause  ensued. 

"I  love  to  sit  still  and  think,"  said  the  girl,  after 
a  while.  "I  do  love  the  country  so." 

"It 's  so  still  and  quiet,"  Belden  commented. 

"Do  you  suppose,"  Grace  said  very  slowly,  "that 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  ever  are  really  happy  when 
they're  together?" 

Belden  threw  his  cigarette  away.  "How  funny," 
he  said;  "I  was  just  wondering  that  very  thing!" 

(Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  were  just  then  getting  them- 
selves ensconced  in  their  reserved  "First  Class  for 
Paris."  "Frank,"  she  was  saying,  "if  you  knew  how 


252        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

happy  you  're  making  me  taking  me  to  Paris,  you  'd 
never  be  jealous  again."  "Jealous!"  Frank  Ellerslie 
was  saying.  "Why,  my  dearest  pet,  I  never,"  etc.) 

"But  do  you  suppose  that  they  are  happy  ever?" 

"I  don't  know.  It 's  hard  to  say.  They  have  the 
name  of  being  tremendously  in  love,  you  know.  There 
was  nothing  mercenary  hi  the  marriage;  they  each 
had  their  own  money." 

"I  can't  imagine  talking  about  any  one  I  loved  as 
she  talks  about  him,"  the  girl  said  slowly,  the  color 
ebbing  and  flowing  hi  her  cheeks  over  her  own 
daring. 

"  I  can't  imagine  treating  any  one  I  loved  the  way 
he  treated  her,"  said  Belden.  "If  I  had  a  wife  I  'd 
want  to  feel  towards  her  as  if  she  was  a  woman  all 
the  time  —  not  sometimes  a  goddess  and  sometimes 
a  dog.  I  can't  understand  marrying  a  woman  and 
then  making  her  cry." 

Grace  looked  very  thoughtful,  almost  sad.  "It 
was  n't  just  that  he  made  her  cry  so  often,"  she  said; 
"it  was  that  we  all  —  that  we  all  —  I  don't  know  how 
to  express  it  exactly,  but  we  all  seemed  forced  into 
taking  sides  when  they  were  mad  at  each  other.  I  've 
never  been  in  just  that  kind  of  a  situation  before.  I  'm 
sure  I  never  agreed  with  either  of  them." 

"Nor  I,"  said  Belden,  joining  in  her  unconscious 
innuendo.  "But  I  know  exactly  what  you  mean, 
although,  as  far  as  that  goes,  it  has  struck  me  often 


THE  PICNIC  253 

and  often  that  married  people  are  never  as  particular 
about  being  polite  to  one  another  as  they  might  be." 

"  Oh,  but  Cousin  Lizzie  and  Mr.  Dunn  always  have 
seemed  to  get  on  beautifully  together." 

"I  wonder  if  it 's  necessary  to  hitch  along  like  that, 
anyhow,"  said  Belden.  "I  declare,  I  don't  see  why  it 
should  be  —  oh,  they  really  did  scare  me !  Honestly 
they  did.  At  least,"  he  added,  with  a  little  smile, 
"I  think  that  they  did." 

Grace's  face  grew  very  earnest.  "Mrs.  Ellerslie  is 
so  pretty,  though,"  she  said,  slowly,  "and  she  's  al- 
ways had  so  much  attention.  I  suppose  it 's  hard  for 
her  to  give  up  and  settle  down  with  just  her  husband." 

"Then  she  ought  never  to  have  married,"  said  Bel- 
den.  "If  a  girl  isn't  prepared  to  settle  down  with 
just  her  husband,  she  ought  never  to  marry.  That 's 
flat." 

"Yes,"  said  Grace,  blushing  again,  "I  think  so,  too; 
but  I  'm  not  a  real  American  girl  —  hardly.  I  've 
lived  so  much  over  here,  and  Mamma 's  been  so  very 
strict  with  me,  that  I  'm  different  in  many  ways." 

"Well,  you  want  to  thank  your  mother  a  whole 
lot,  then,"  said  Belden.  "Maybe  you  think  I'm 
funny,  talking  to  you  this  way,  but  I  think  most  of 
the  trouble  in  life  comes  from  not  saying  what  one 
means  or  not  meaning  what  one  says,  and  as  long  as 
we  are  talking  about  getting  married  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  I  don't  know  why  this  is  n't  a  good  time 


254        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

for  me  to  find  out  a  girl's  views  and  you  to  find  out  a 
man's;  what  do  you  think?" 

She  looked  directly  into  his  eyes,  then.  "If  you 
want  to  ask  me  any  questions,  I  '11  try  to  answer 
honestly,"  she  said.  "  I  'm  sure  I  'm  very  glad  to 
learn  anything,  always." 

"Shall  we  be  quite  frank?"  said  the  man. 

"Yes,"  said  the  girl. 

"Well,  then,"  he  took  his  cane  and  began  punch- 
ing deep  holes  in  the  dead  leaves  at  his  feet,  "this  is 
what  I  think :  I  think  when  people  marry  they  ought 
to  stand  by  one  another,  not  just  in  good  weather, 
but  in  all  kinds  of  thunder  and  lightning,  through 
thick  and  thin,  in  short." 

"  People  promise  to  do  so  hi  the  marriage  service." 

"  I  know,  but  the  marriage  service  does  n't  seem  to 
make  much  impression  bn  any  one  any  more.  It 
seems  to  me  that  there  's  a  good,  plain  understanding 
necessary,  or  the  marriage  service  does  n't  cut  any 
figure  on  anybody's  mind.  'For  richer,  for  poorer, 
for  better,  for  worse.'  How  much  does  any  one 
think  about  that  nowadays?" 

"  It  does  n't  seem  to  bear  much  relation  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ellerslie,  surely,"  Grace  said,  with  a  little  smile. 

"  No,  nor  to  almost  any  one.    And  it 's  a  mighty 
poor  way  to  start  on  a  long  journey,  with  only  things 
for  good  weather.    Trouble  's  almost  sure  to  come" 
without  thinking  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  laid  it 


THE  PICNIC  255 

over  hers,  which  was  playing  idly  with  a  blade  of 
grass  —  "and  it 's  when  the  trouble  comes  that  they 
ought  to  mean  a  great  deal  to  one  another,  more 
rather  than  less  than  in  the  good  times.  At  least, 
it  seems  to  me  so." 

She  was  quite  still,  and  her  hand  was  quite  still  in 
his;  her  heart  was  beating  a  little  hushed  throb; 
she  had  n't  quite  thought  of  the  possibility  of  life's 
meaning  all  this. 

"And  no  matter  how  much  trouble  there  is,"  Bel- 
den  went  on,  continuing  to  punch  holes  and  also  con- 
tinuing to  cover  the  little  hand  with  his  own,  "it  can 
be  weathered  if  they  put  up  the  fight  against  it  to- 
gether. It 's  when  the  split  comes  and  they  go  seek- 
ing outside  advice  and  sympathy  that  the  trouble 
that  can't  be  weathered  comes.  And,  O  God,  there 
is  so  much  of  that  kind  of  trouble  nowadays!" 

He  paused,  but  she  did  n't  speak.  She  had  her 
face  turned  from  him,  looking  back  up  the  valley  to 
the  cozy  little  Hof  set  amidst  its  nest  of  green 
trees. 

''  I  hope  that  if  I  married  a  girl  I  'd  never  forget 
to  be  a  gentleman  to  her,"  Belden  went  on  presently. 
"  But  if  I  ever  forgot  once  and  she  did  n't  forget  to 
be  a  lady  to  me  then,  —  by  George,  it  seems  to  me 
I  'd  be  so  ashamed,  when  I  did  come  to  my  senses,  that 
she  'd  have  the  best  of  me  ever  after.  The  only  thing 
in  this  world  that  it  really  counts  to  lose  is  your 


256        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

temper,  —  you  saw  me  pretty  close  to  losing  mine 
once,  and  you  '11  have  to  take  my  word  for  it  that 
that  was  the  closest  I  ever  did  come  to  losing  it  in 
my  life.  I  think  losing  one's  temper  is  a  low  trick 
to  put  up  on  the  world  anyhow,  kind  of  like  mur- 
dering a  man  when  you  're  drunk  and  then  saying 
you  don't  remember  anything  about  it." 

"You  speak  as  if  you  wanted  to  say  that  the  best 
people  are  n't  doing  it  this  year,"  Grace  said,  with  a 
wee  little  smile. 

"They  certainly  are  not,"  he  said,  laughing  a  little ; 
"  indeed,  I  believe  the  very  highest  society  look  very 
much  askance  at  tempers,  don't  they?" 

"  I  've  never  been  permitted  to  use  mine,  I 
know." 

"Perhaps  the  safest  rule  in  married  life  would  be 
for  both  to  agree  never  to  use  the  temper  at  once  — 
say,  whoever  got  it  first  must  have  it  all  alone  until 
entirely  through  with  it.  That  would  forestall  all 
complications." 

"I  should  think  so." 

"And  if  people  had  a  good  understanding  as  to 
tempers  and  sticking  together,  it  does  n't  seem  to 
me  that  anything  else  could  count  for  very  much." 

"It  could  n't  be  very  bad,  anyway." 

"Not  if  they  had  been  brought  up  in  the  same 
circumstances  and  were  used  to  about  the  same  kind 
of  living." 


THE  PICNIC  257 

"No."  There  was  trepidation  in  her  tones.  She 
began  to  be  acutely,  painfully  conscious  of  her  hand 
in  his. 

"I  want  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  something," 
Belden  said,  suddenly,  "  you  can  think  whatever  you 
please  of  me,  but  I  've  got  it  on  my  mind,  and  I  must 
say  it." 

"Oh,"  she  said,  altogether  fluttered  and  fearful, 
"don't  let  us  talk  any  more  about  serious  things; 
let 's  walk  on  back ! " 

"Let  me  just  say  this  one  thing,"  pleaded  the 
man.  "  It 's  the  kind  of  thing  no  man  ever  says,  but 
I  Ve  had  a  big  lesson  in  seeing  what  it  means  to 
live  off  of  the  square,  and  I  want  to  live  on  it  here- 
after if  I  can.  I  dare  say  Mrs.  Ellerslie  has  said  things 
about  me  to  you,  and  I  don't  give  a  hang  what  they 
are,  but  walking  down  to  the  station  this  morning 
she  told  me  that  of  course  you  would  be  the  right 
girl  on  account  of  your  money.  You  see,  she  knew 
I  'd  come  over  here  to  scrub  along  with  a  small  ap- 
pointment until  the  way  to  bigger  things  opened,  and 
she  figured  that  a  girl  educated  in  Europe  and  with 
money  would  be  bound  to  be  the  right  girl." 

Grace  was  still,  —  waiting,  —  rather  frightened. 

"I  told  her,  then,  what  I  've  told  no  one  else,  not 
even  Lizzie ;  and  that  is  that  I  inherited  some  money 
a  while  ago.  Marriage  was  never  possible  for  me 
before;  it  is  now." 

17 


258        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"Yes,"  she  said,  very  low. 

Belden  loosed  her  hand  and  jumped  up.  "Come," 
he  said,  offering  her  his  aid  for  rising,  "  I  'm  sure 
I  've  bored  you  enough  with  my  views  now.  Won't 
you  tell  me  yours  as  we  walk  back?" 

"Mine?  Oh!"  She  colored  very  deeply.  "I'm 
afraid  I  have  n't  any.  All  I  've  ever  thought  is  that 
I  'd  like  to  spend  my  life  making  —  making  people 
happy." 

"Well,  that's  a  good  theory  to  work  on,"  said 
Belden,  laughing;  "perhaps  it  would  work  out  very 
much  the  same  as  my  own ;  only  being  nothing  but  a 
man,  I  took  a  long  time  to  say  what  you  get  in  three 
words." 

She  smiled. 

"  I  expect,  if  we  look  hi  the  prayer-book,  we  'd  find 
we  were  just  back  at  the  marriage  service,"  he  went 
on.  "You  know,  that's  the  way  life's  biggest  les- 
sons always  end,  —  one  works  and  strives  and  strug- 
gles, and  then  at  last  one  finds  all  that  has  been 
accomplished  is  the  mere  learning  by  heart  of  a 
single  verse  that  said  it  all  the  time." 

Grace  felt  altogether  queer  and  trembly.  "Oh,  see, 
there  's  a  rabbit,"  she  said.  She  felt  quite  incapable 
of  more. 

(Mrs.  Ellerslie  —  still  en  route  for  Paris  —  was  lean- 
ing pleasantly  back  against  her  pillow,  with  her  pretty 
feet  crossed  on  the  cushions  opposite.  "I  wonder 


THE  PICNIC  259 

where  they  all  are  now,"  she  said,  but  Ellerslie  did 
not  answer. 

"Frank,  dear,  shouldn't  you  think  Lizzie  would 
try  to  wear  five  and  a  half  shoes ;  they  'd  only  be  a 
little  too  small  for  her?" 

Still  Ellerslie  was  silent. 

"  Lovey,"  said  his  wife  —  and  then  turning  she  saw 
that  he  was  asleep. 

So  she  went  to  sleep,  too.) 

And  Belden  was  content  to  wait. 

They  walked  back  slowly,  and  found  Mrs.  Dunn 
reading  the  mushroom  book  aloud  to  her  family. 

"Oh,  there  they  come !"  exclaimed  Bobby.  "Now 
we  can  go  home,  can't  we?  Even  if  they  haven't 
got  it  all  fixed  up,  we  can  go  home  now,  can't  we?" 
he  added,  anxiously.  "We  don't  have  to  wait  for 
them  to  get  it  all  fixed  up,  do  we?  What  is  it  they 
must  fix  up,  anyhow,  Papa?" 


CHAPTER  XX 

FINISHED  ! 

MR.  and  Mrs.  Ellerslie  went  through  to  the  dining- 
car  rather  early  that  evening  —  ("We  shall  be  weeks 
getting  civilized  again,"  the  pretty  lady  said  with 
pathos.)  —  and  took  their  seats  on  either  side  of 
a  table-de-luxe  with  a  rose-de-luxe  in  a  small  vase 
between  them. 

"Well,  this  is  existence,"  said  Ellerslie,  as  he 
glanced  haughtily  about.  "Give  me  life,  hereafter  — 
no  more  country  retreats." 

"And  Lizzie  liked  it,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  looking 
in  the  mirror  beyond  and  smiling.  "She  actually 
liked  it." 

"Her  husband  didn't,  though." 

"No;  wasn't  he  henpecked,  that  poor  man?  He 
did  n't  dare  call  his  soul  his  own.  And  the  way  she 
used  to  set  him  to  tend  that  child  while  she  capered 
off  with  Will!" 

"I  wouldn't  just  say  'capered,'"  said  Ellerslie; 
"  but  she  was  off  a  good  deal.  I  used  to  go  in  there 
often  for  things,  and  she  'd  be  gone." 


FINISHED!  261 

"And  always  with  Will,  too." 

"Oh,  yes;  he  was  always  out.  I  never  went  to  his 
room  for  anything  that  I  found  him.  I  always  had 
to  hunt." 

"And  they  were  so  disobliging,  too,"  said  Mrs. 
Ellerslie,  thoughtfully  sipping  soup.  "I've  never 
seen  people  so  disobliging." 

"My  poo'  itty  kitty—" 

"Oh,  Frank,  don't,  please.  Others  may  come  in 
any  minute.  Not  but  what  it 's  reassuring  to  be 
loved  after  all  we  've  gone  through  this  month.  That 
mouse  —  will  you  ever  forget  him?  And  then  the 
dreadful  way  they  all  went  for  one  another  when 
alone  with  me.  Did  Lizzie  ever  talk  to  you  about 
her  husband?" 

"No;  how  could  she  make  any  interesting  conver- 
sation out  of  that  fellow?" 

"Oh,  he  's  a  fearful  bore,"  said  Mrs.  Ellerslie,  with 
conviction. 

Ellerslie  attacked  his  fish.  "That 's  what  gave  her 
that  tired  look,  I  suppose,"  he  said,  meditatively. 

"Yes,  neither  of  them  have  any  principle.  You 
could  see  that  by  her  being  willing  to  let  Will  marry 
that  girl  —  a  girl  with  almost  no  hair  at  all.  Poor 

win  I" 

"Oh,  I  reckon  Belden  can  look  out  for  himself." 
"I  know,  Frank;    but  a  man  in  your  position 
does  n't  know  what  it  is  to  live  with  false  hair  and 


262        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

pads  and  all  manner  of  things  of  that  kind.     Poor 
Will!" 

"  He  's  picked  her  out." 

"Oh,  no,  he  has  n't;  Lizzie  Dunn  has  picked  her 
out.     I  '11  wager  anything  she  '11  hurry  matters  so 
fast,  now  I  'm  gone  — " 

"Now  you  're  gone !" 

"Yes;   I  've  been  keeping  Will  away  all  I  could." 

"Ah  — oh  — go  on." 

"Nothing, — only  I  think  they  '11  settle  it  right 
off  now." 


Just  to  show  how  shrewd  a  prophet  Mrs.  Ellerslie 
was,  the  story  of  that  evening  in  Dichtenberg  shall 
be  told  and  told  at  once. 

They  had  a  good  supper  that  night,  and  were  all 
uncommonly  hungry.  Even  love  gets  up  an  appe- 
tite if  forced  fast  enough  in  the  open  air,  and  the 
sausages  and  potatoes  with  onion  sauce  tasted  better 
than  ever  before.  The  little  private  dining-room  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  picnic  to  get  itself  thoroughly 
cleaned,  and  a  new  motto  in  burnt  wood  with  the 
roses  colored  red  hung  over  the  sofa.  The  two  win- 
dows were  open  to  the  forest,  and  outside  the  very 
softest  night  wind  that  ever  stirred  was  drifting  the 
breath  of  the  mignonette  and  roses  into  the  room. 

"Fancy  roses  blooming  outdoors  in  October,"  Mrs. 


FINISHED !  263 

Dunn  said,  noticing  that  Bobby  hadn't  taken  his 
napkin  out  of  the  ring,  but  not  saying  anything  be- 
cause they  were  all  so  happy. 

"We  '11  have  to  have  lanterns  to  make  that  expe- 
dition up  the  tower,"  Belden  said,  glancing  towards 
the  outdoors  referred  to.  "It 's  pitch  dark;  at  least 
it  will  be  when  we  're  through." 

"Have  they  a  lantern  here,  do  you  suppose?"  Mrs. 
Dunn  asked. 

"  Of  course,  they  must  have  one,"  said  her  husband ; 
"  a  hotel  in  the  country  without  a  lantern ! "  Then  he 
was  afraid  that  he  had  sounded  impatient,  and  smiled 
so  widely  that  he  choked. 

"  I  '11  ask,  when  Herr  Everling  comes  back  with  the 
beer,"  said  Belden. 

"Papa,  can  I  carry  it  if  they  've  got  one?"  asked 
Bobby.  "I  want  to." 

"It  will  be  better  for  you  to  carry  your  little  elec- 
tric light,"  said  his  mother;  "then  you'll  have  a 
light  all  to  yourself." 

"Oh,  yes.    I  '11  run  and  get  it." 

There  was  a  lantern,  just  as  they  had  expected, 
and  when  they  were  through  the  women  got  capes, 
and  Bobby  got  his  electric  lamp,  and  Dunn  got  a  cigar, 
and  they  all  went  out  to  walk  on  slowly,  until  Belden 
should  overtake  them  with  the  lantern. 

"It's  such  a  perfect  night,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said  to 
Grace,  as  with  their  arms  linked  together  they  wan- 


dered  along  the  road.  "The  faint  soft  breeze  steal- 
ing out  of  the  forest  and  over  us  is  just  like  a  dream 
made  real,  or  something  of  that  sort." 

"Oh,  life  seems  almost  too  lovely,"  said  the  girl. 
To  her  the  whole  wide  universe  seemed  filled  to-night 
with  —  rabbits. 

Bobby  was  running  here  and  there,  snapping  his 
electric  lamp  among  the  bushes.  "  I  thought  we  were 
going  up  the  tower  to  see  the  sun  set,"  he  exclaimed. 
"Oh,  Papa,  there  's  a  little  lizard  —  see !" 

"Yes,  I  see,"  said  Dunn,  agreeably.  "You  know 
lizards  are  very  useful,  Bobby;  they  bore  holes  and 
eat  up  things."  It  was  a  theory  of  his  that  children 
really  learn  more  by  intelligently  aided  observation 
than  they  do  at  school,  but  he  had  often  quite  for- 
gotten to  aid  Bobby's  observation  lately. 

"What  do  they  eat  up,  Papa?" 

"Oh  —  oh,  anything  they  can  get." 

"  Is  it  always  useful  to  eat  up  anything  you  can  get ; 
is  it,  Papa?" 

"Don't  ask  silly  questions,  Bobby." 

"  Oh,  Papa,  do  you  suppose  the  donkey  's  asleep 
yet?  That  is  n't  a  silly  question,  is  it?  Is  it,  Papa?" 

Dunn  felt  that  Bobby  had  had  almost  enough  va- 
cation —  or  else  that  he  ought  to  be  in  bed,  he  did  n't 
just  know  which. 

"Do  you  think  he  's  asleep,  Papa?" 

"  I  don't  know,  my  boy." 


FINISHED!  265 

"Well,  do  you  think  Mrs.  Ellerslie  's  asleep  yet? 
Oh,  Papa,  what  did  she  mean  by  finding  the  other 
half  of  her  soul ?  What  did  she  mean  by  that,  Papa? " 

"Bob,  dear,"  called  the  wife  and  mother  behind, 
"what  do  you  suppose  makes  it  take  so  long?"  She 
referred,  of  course,  to  Belden  and  the  lantern. 

"Oh,  I  suppose  it  had  n't  any  oil  in  it  or  something 
like  that."  Dunn  was  glad  to  seek  any  shelter  from 
Bobby's  rain  of  questions. 

"Nothing  could  have  happened,  could  it?"  Grace 
asked,  in  sudden  apprehension.  "There  could  n't  have 
been  any  explosion,  anything  that  hurt  —  the  cook?" 

"No,  no!"  But  then,  as  they  had  been  waiting 
fully  five  minutes,  Dunn  suddenly  became  curious 
himself  and  started  for  the  house  to  see  what  had 
caused  the  delay. 

"  Oh,  Mamma,  I  've  stepped  in  a  deep  place  where 
it  was  wet,"  exclaimed  Bobby. 

"  Bobby !    What  made  you  run  over  on  the  grass? " 

"  I  did  n't  know  I  was  on  the  grass.  I  was  playing 
I  was  blind,  with  my  eyes  shut." 

"Just  look,  Grace;  he's  gone  right  in  up  to  his 
ankle!" 

"  It 's  good  I  've  got  my  electric  light,  so  you  can 
see  how  deep  I  've  gone  in,  isn't  it,  Mamma?" 

"Well,  we  can't  help  matters  now,  dear;  anyway, 
it 's  just  mud  and  will  dry  quickly." 

"Mr.  Dunn  does  n't  come  back,  either,"  said  Grace. 


266        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

"What  can  be  the  matter  in  there?" 

"  Shall  I  run  and  see  ?  "  asked  Bobby.  "  Here,  Mam- 
ma, you  can  hold  my  light,  and  I  '11  run  and  see." 

So  Bobby  ran,  and  was  in  his  turn  swallowed  up. 

"I  do  wonder  what  Nellie  and  her  husband  are  doing 
now! "  Mrs.  Dunn  said.  "  Oh,  no,  I  don't ;  they  would 
be  in  the  dining-car  now ;  it 's  about  eight  o'clock." 

"I  hope  that  they  are  having  a  nice  time,"  said 
Grace. 

"They  are  probably  just  as  glad  to  be  gone  as  we 
are  to  have  them  gone,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn  (and  in  that 
she  was  quite  right). 

They  went  as  far  as  where  the  road  shuts  in  between 
the  arching  trees,  and  when  they  turned  to  walk  back 
the  plain  below  looked  as  if  many  swarms  of  fireflies 
had  settled  here  and  there. 

"Each  village  is  like  a  sprinkle  of  golden  ink," 
Grace  said,  stopping  her  companion  to  see.  "Oh, 
Cousin  Lizzie,  isn't  it  all  so  very,  very  pretty?" 

"It  's  lovely,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn;  "but  what  do  you 
suppose  has  become  of  these  men  and  that  lantern ! 
We  've  been  here  a  quarter  of  an  hour." 

"Shall  I  go  and  see?" 

"No,  then  you  won't  come  back,  either." 

Grace  laughed.  "  They  were  all  men,"  she  said ; 
"I'm  a  woman.  I'll  come  back." 

"Well,  then,  dear,  do  run  and  see  what  they  are 
doing  there." 


FINISHED!  267 

Grace  ran.  And  one  minute  later  she  appeared, 
leading  the  procession. 

"Is  that  the  lantern?"  Mrs.  Dunn  cried,  hi  great 
amazement. 

"It 's  the  lantern,"  said  Belden,  who  was  bearing 
it;  "look  out,  don't  touch  it!  I'm  so  nervous  for 
fear  something  will  happen  to  it  now  we  've  achieved 
it.  It  was  in  the  Boden  —  if  you  know  what  that 
is  —  and  a  candle  had  to  be  cut  to  fit  it,  etc., 
etc." 

"  You  look  just  like  the  Fourth  of  July,  "  exclaimed 
Bobby,  jumping  about  in  high  glee.  "Fourth  of 
July  in  Dichtenberg ! " 

"Come,  Bobby,"  said  his  mother,  "you  run  ahead 
with  your  light  and  show  Papa  and  Mamma  the 
way." 

The  procession  now  moved,  with  Grace  and  Belden 
and  the  lantern  bringing  up  the  rear. 

"  Fancy  their  giving  you  a  Chinese  paper  lantern," 
said  the  girl. 

"Fancy  their  having  a  Chinese  paper  lantern  to 
give  me,"  said  Belden;  "I  'm  so  afraid  it  '11  go  out 
or  burn  up,  too." 

"You  look  so  funny,"  said  Grace,  laughing  —  she 
felt  very  courageous  to-night  with  him  somehow. 
"An  expedition  with  a  paper  lantern !  I  never  heard 
of  such  a  thing." 

"And  I  feel  so  darned  festive,  too,"  said  Belden, 


268        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

laughing  in  his  turn.  "I  feel  as  if  I  were  celebrating 
something,  only  I  don't  know  what." 

They  climbed  the  Burgberg  gayly,  and  found  Dunn 
already  negotiating  the  keys  of  the  tower  at  the  top. 

"Doesn't  it  all  look  different  at  night?"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn.  "Just  see  the  plain  from  here." 

"Come  on,"  said  her  husband;  "where  's  Bobby?" 

"I  'm  right  here,  Papa.  Oh,  Mamma,  I  swallowed 
a  bug!" 

"Bobby !    What  kind  of  a  bug?" 

"I  don't  know.    It  flew  right  into  me." 

"What  shall  we  do?"  Mrs.  Dunn  asked  her  hus- 
band. "Bobby  's  swallowed  a  bug." 

Dunn  looked  quite  severe.  "You  ought  to  pay 
more  attention  to  what  Papa  tells  you,  young  man," 
he  said,  gravely. 

"But  you  never  told  me  not  to  swallow  a  bug, 
Papa." 

"Well,  never  mind  for  this  once,"  said  Dunn; 
"come,  Lizzie." 

They  passed  along  by  the  Burgverliess  and  the  old 
and  crumbling  bastions.  They  entered  the  shadows 
and  passed  in  through  the  old  gate. 

"My  dear,  isn't  it  interesting,  is  n't  it  romantic?" 
Mrs.  Dunn  said  to  Grace.  "Why  haven't  we  come 
up  here  evenings  before?  It 's  too  lovely!  Oh,  my 
dear,  do  you  know  what  Bobby  's  done?"  Then  she 
told  her  about  the  bug,  but  Grace  bore  it  bravely. 


FINISHED !  269 

Her  mind  was  soaring  far  above  bugs  and  swallows 
to-night. 

Dunn  unlocked  the  door  to  the  tower's  outer 
staircase,  and  stood  back  to  let  them  all  pass  through. 

"  Oh,  my,  but  I  'm  having  a  good  time,"  said  Bobby, 
plunging  ahead  with  his  electric  light. 

" Bobby,  Bobby,  you'll  fall  through  something," 
cried  his  mother;  "remember,  Mamma  knows." 

The  door  opened,  and  they  all  went  into  the  pitchy 
darkness  of  the  tower. 

"Mamma,  I  know. what  this  makes  you  think  of, 
don't  I  ?  "  cried  Bobby ;  "  D  O  N  G I N,  don't  it  ?  " 

"Bobby,  keep  by  me,"  cried  his  mother.  "Oh, 
Bob,  do  you  think  this  is  safe?" 

"Why,  of  course;  it's  only  dark.  There's  the 
stair  —  there  in  the  middle.  Come,  dear,  I  '11  show 
you." 

They  went  on  up  with  Bobby  and  his  light  right 
with  them.  Belden  and  Grace  came  after  with  the 
lantern.  It  took  them  longer. 

"Oh,"  cried  Mrs.  Dunn,  as  she  came  out  on  top. 
"  Oh !  Oh,  Bob !  Oh,  Bobby !  Is  n't  it  wonderful ! 
Isn't  it  too  beautiful?" 

A  new  moon  was  rising  over  the  woods  towards 
Oelber,  and  there  was  enough  of  the  day's  afterglow  to 
throw  a  fault  light  in  among  all  the  shadowy  green 
masses  that  stretched  away  beneath  it.  The  valley 
of  Oelber,  one  long  sweeping  train  of  varying  mist 


270        JUST  BETWEEN  THEMSELVES 

lines,  seemed  itself  to  be  drifting  slowly  westward  and 
turning  all  that  it  passed  by  into  silver.  The  plain 
lay  endlessly  to  the  north,  and  the  stars  which  studded 
it  were  each  a  tiny  hamlet.  The  forests  in  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Harz  were  coal  black,  and  gave  not  up 
their  mystery  to  either  the  gaze  or  the  description. 

"I  '11  never  forget  this  as  long  as  I  live,"  said  Mrs. 
Dunn.  " Bobby,  you  mustn't  forget  this  as  long  as 
you  live.  Remember,  dear." 

"And  look  out  you  don't  lay  your  lantern  down 
and  forget  that,"  cautioned  his  father. 

Just  then  Belden  and  Grace  achieved  the  summit 
and  joined  them. 

"Isn't  it  beautiful?"  said  Mrs.  Dunn.  "Did  you 
ever  see  anything  so  lovely?" 

"  How  soft  the  wind  is ! "  said  Belden ;  then  he  blew 
out  the  lantern  and  laid  it  back  by  the  stair.  "This 
is  fairy-land." 

For  a  long  time  they  stood  in  silence,  looking  off 
in  different  directions. 

"What  does  it  make  you  think  of?"  Mrs.  Dunn 
said  to  Belden,  as  he  moved  over  beside  her. 

"Of  many  things.    Of  good  resolutions  mostly." 

"I  've  been  making  good  resolutions,  too,"  she  said. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  don't  think  that  any  one 
in  particular  was  to  blame,"  said  Belden.  "It  was 
Discord  with  her  torch,  and  we  could  n't  help  it." 

"  I  did  try  so  hard,"  said  Mrs.  Dunn,  thoughtfully, 


FINISHED!  271 

and  although  there  was  almost  no  light  where  they 
stood  behind  the  wooden  tower,  Belden  knew  that 
she  put  up  her  hand  and  wiped  away  tears. 

"Lizzie,"  said  Dunn's  voice  from  the  other  side, 
"don't  you  think  we  'd  better  leave  them  the  keys 
and  take  Bobby  down?  He  's  sleepy." 

"No,  I  'm  not,"  said  Bobby,  who  was  lying  on  his 
back  on  the  top  of  the  wall,  looking  up  at  the  stars. 
"I  just  shut  my  eyes  for  fun." 

"Yes,  let 's  go  down,"  said  his  wife,  delighted  at 
her  husband's  delicate  tact.  "  Come,  Bobby  dear ;  I  '11 
read  you  a  story  after  you  're  in  bed.  Come,  dear." 

Dunn  gave  Belden  the  keys.  "  I  '11  tell  the  man 
you  're  still  up  here,"  he  said.  "  I  paid  for  the  tickets 
when  I  got  them." 

"Thank  you  so  much,"  said  Belden,  not  referring 
his  gratitude  to  the  fifty  Pfennige. 

Mr.  Dunn,  Mrs.  Dunn,  Bobby,  and  the  electric 
light  then  felt  their  way  carefully  down  the  staircases, 
and  ten  minutes  later  Belden  and  Grace  saw  what 
looked  like  a  firefly  and  a  nucleus  go  waveringly  across 
the  open  space  beneath,  pass  out  of  the  old  Thar, 
through  the  Zwinger,  and  vanish. 

They  were  left  alone ! 

It  was  one  of  those  strange  minutes  in  We  when 
life  seems  to  cease  and  nothing  exists  except  some 
acute  sort  of  perception  that  nothing  exists.  Grace 
clung  to  the  wooden  top-rail  and  gasped  for  breath,  — 


272        JUST    BETWEEN    THEMSELVES 

she  knew  that  he  was  going  to  say  something  and 
she  felt  —  with  more  gasps  for  more  breath  —  that 
it  was  almost  certain  what  he  was  going  to  say. 
Belden  hoped  that  she  could  n't  hear  his  heart  beat- 
ing, —  he  had  n't  expected  that  a  crisis  could  arise 
and  grip  anyone  so  quickly,  —  he  had  n't  foreseen 
anything  except  a  visit  to  the  tower,  —  he  had  n't 
planned,  —  he  had  n't  thought,  —  he  had  n't  ar- 
ranged, —  Heavens ! 

"We've  got  it  all  to  ourselves  now!"  —  A  hollow 
voice,  which  he  recognized  at  once  as  his  own,  was 
speaking.  "Isn't  it  a  wonderful  night?" 

Grace  gathered  all  her  self-possession  into  a  single 
very  weak  "Yes." 

"For  a  little  while  the  whole  world  is  ours  alone," 
the  independent  voice  continued,  —  "all  this  gor- 
geous view  and  everything  —  it 's  just  ours  alone." 

He  felt  that  that  was  n't  so  bad  —  although  noth- 
ing which  he  would  have  voluntarily  chosen  to  say. 

"Y-yes,"  said  Grace.  She  thought  that  she  should 
faint  —  or  burst  into  tears. 

He  took  her  hand  then.  "You  must  be  so  very 
tired,"  he  said  tenderly. 

Her  lip  quivered.     She  did  n't  know  what  to  say. 

"Your  hand  is  quite  cold,"  said  the  man,  getting 
more  and  more  original  in  his  remarks. 

"Y-yes,"  said  the  girl,  and  half  turned  away. 
Belden  knew  that  the  minute  was  struck,  he  thought 


FINISHED !  273 

of  ten  thousand  things  but  could  n't  think  what  to 
do  next,  so  he  put  his  arm  around  her. 

"  You  mus'  n't,"  she  murmured  very  weakly  in- 
deed, and  then  he  whispered, 

"Have  you  had  time  to  think  about  all  that  I  said 
to-day  there  in  the  woods?  " 

She  wondered  if  he  could  hear  her  heart  beating 
and  he  never  ceased  wondering  if  she  could  hear  his, 
—  but  she  made  no  answer. 

"Are  you  cold?"  he  asked. 

No  answer. 

"  You  're  trembling." 

No  answer. 

"Won't  you  answer  me?" 

She  did  n't  know  what  to  do.  It  is  small  wonder 
that  so  many  girls  accept  their  first  offer  for  very 
few  have  sufficient  presence  of  mind  to  know  any- 
thing else  to  do  with  it. 

"Won't  you  answer  me?"  Belden  asked  again. 

The  poor  thing  looked  overhead  and  down  below, 
but  not  a  rabbit  came  to  her  aid.  Her  hand  was 
being  held,  he  had  his  arm  around  her  waist,  and  — 
and  —  and  she  liked  him  so  much !  To  be  sure,  he 
was  the  first  marriageable  man  she  had  ever  known, 
but  he  had  appealed  strongly  to  her  and  —  and  she 
really  thought  - 

"Is  your  mother  American  enough  to  let  me  ask 
you  questions  now  or  must  I  wait?"  asked  the  man. 

18 


274        JUST    BETWEEN   THEMSELVES 

She  made  a  mighty  effort  —  "I  don't  know,"  she 
said  feebly,  —  "  oh,  don't  —  don't  — 

"Don't  what?" 

("Don't  what?"  is  surely  the  hardest  worked 
question  in  the  Dictionary  of  Interrogation.) 

"Oh,  p-pkase  don't." 

"You  must  answer  me,  —  you  shall." 

It  takes  so  little  assertion  to  overcome  a  woman. 

"W-well,  —  what  is  it?" 

"May  I  write  to  her  to-morrow?  Just  tell  me 
that?"  There  was  a  sort  of  silence  —  a  kind  of 
silence,  broken  and  then  unbroken  and  then  together 
again.  An  odd  silence. 

"I  '11  write  to-morrow,"  Belden  announced  after 
a  while,  apparently  having  settled  the  question  for 
himself. 

Grace  gasped.  It  was  all  too  wonderful.  To 
think !  - 

They  started  down-stairs  after  a  long  while.  Belden 
dropped  the  lantern  and  Grace  lost  the  matches,  but 
they  got  down  and  out  at  last. 

"I  shall  never  forget  this  tower,"  the  man  said  as 
he  locked  the  door. 

"Hasn't  it  been  a  wonderful  fortnight?"  Grace 
said.  "I  never  was  so  happy  in  all  my  life  before." 

"Of  course  /  think  it's  been  Paradise,"  Belden 
said,  preparing  to  guide  her  safely  onward. 

And  down  in  the  Kurhaus  Bobby,  being  tucked 


FINISHED !  275 

up  by  his  mother,  was  voicing  much  the  same 
thing. 

"My,  but  I  'm  glad  we  came  here!"  he  said 
sleepily. 

"Do  you  know,  dear,"  Mrs.  Dunn  said  to  her  hus- 
band later,  "  I  really  think  that  we  shall  always  re- 
member this  little  outing  as  long  as  we  live.  It 's 
been  so  pleasant ! " 

She  probably  meant  it  —  in  fact,  I  'm  quite  sure 
that  she  did,  being  a  truthful  woman. 

Mr.  Dunn  —  who  was  unfastening  his  collar  — 
nodded.  But  the  best  of  all  was  Mrs.  Ellerslie  who  — 
in  the  green  and  gold  kimono  —  was  brushing  out 
her  hair. 

"Frank,"  she  said,  "do  you  know  I  'm  so  glad  you 
persuaded  me  into  accepting  Lizzie's  proposition. 
Now  that  it 's  all  over  and  by  I  can  see  that  it 's  been 
a  very  good  thing  all  around." 

"Yes,"  said  Ellerslie,  who  was  hunting  for  his 
toilet  things  in  that  luxurious  wealth  of  space  pro- 
vided by  a  European  sleeper,  —  "Well — by  George !" 

"What  is  it?"  asked  his  wife. 

"Why,  if  here  is  n't  Belden's  —  "  he  stopped. 

"You  can  mail  it  back  to  him,"  said  his  wife,  tact- 
fully, —  "and  now  do  hurry,  dear,  I  'm  so  sleepy." 


Neiv  Edition  with  Pictures  from  the  Play 


THE  REJUVENATION 
OF  AUNT  MARY 


By  ANNE  WARNER 

Author  of  "  Susan  Clegg  and  Her  Friend  Mrs.  Lathrop,* 

"A.  Woman's  Will,"  etc. 
Illustrated.     12mo.     Cloth.     $1.50 


Always  amusing  and  ends  in  a  burst  of  sunshine. — Phil- 
adelphia Ledger. 

Impossible  to  read  without  laughing.  A  sparkling, 
hilarious  tale.  —  Chicago  Record-Herald. 

The  love  story  is  as  wholesome  and  satisfactory  as  the 
fun.  In  its  class  this  book  must  be  accorded  the  first 
place. — Baltimore  Sun. 

The  humor  is  simply  delicious.  —  Albany  Times-Union. 

Every  one  that  remembers  Susan  Clegg  will  wish  also  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  Aunt  Mary.  Her  "imperious 
will  and  impervious  eardrums  "  furnish  matter  for  uproar- 
ious merriment.  ...  A  book  to  drive  away  the  blues 
and  make  one  well  content  with  the  worst  weather. — 
Pittsburg  Gazette. 

Cheerful,  crisp,  and  bright.  The  comedy  is  sweetened 
by  a  satisfying  love  tale.  —  Boston  Herald. 


LITTLE,   BROWN,   &   CO.,   PUBLISHERS 
34  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON 


Anne  Warners  "Susan  Clegg"  Books 


SUSAN  CLEGG  AND  HER 
FRIEND  MRS.  LATHROP 


By  ANNE    WARNER 
With  Frontispiece,  $1.00 


Nothing  better  in  the  new  homely  philosophy  style 
of  fiction  has  been  written.  —  San  Francisco  Bulletin. 

One  of  the  most  genuinely  humorous  books  ever  written. 
—  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat. 

Anything  more  humorous  than  the  Susan  Clegg  stories 
would  be  hard  to  find.  —  The  Critic,  New  York. 


By  the  Same  Author : 

SUSAN   CLEGG   AND   HER 
NEIGHBORS'  AFFAIRS 

With  Frontispiece,  $1.00 

All  the  stories  brim  over  with  quaint  humor,  caustic 
sarcasm,  and  concealed  contempt  for  male  and  matrimonial 
chains. — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

SUSAN  CLEGG  AND  A  MAN  IN 
THE  HOUSE 

Illustrated  by  ALICE  BARBER  STEPHENS.     $1.50 

Susan  is  a  positive  joy,  and  the  reading  world  owes 
Anne  Warner  a  vote  of  thanks  for  her  contribution  to 
the  list  of  American  humor.  —  New  York  Times. 


LITTLE,  BROWN,  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
34  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON 


Anne  Warner's  Latest  Character  Creation 


IN  A 
MYSTERIOUS  WAY 


By  ANNE  WARNER 
Illustrated  by  J.  V.  McFall.     Cloth.     $1.50 


A  story  of  love  and  sacrifice  that  teems  with  the 
author's  original  humor.  —  Baltimore  American. 

A  story  of  unusual  merit,  but  which  is  oddly  com- 
pounded of  amusing  studies  of  human  nature  in  a  rural 
community  and  a  romantic  tragedy  of  the  most  exalted 
type.  —  San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

To  the  colloquially  eccentric  and  amusing  company  of 
"  Susan  Clegg  "  and  "  Aunt  Mary  "  this  book  adds  "  Mrs. 
Ray,"  a  character  as  distinctive  and  quaint  as  her  prede- 
cessors.—  Chicago  Evening  Post. 

Likely  to  be  as  successful  as  her  ever  popular  "Reju- 
venation of  Aunt  Mary,"  of  which  several  large  editions 
have  been  demanded.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Ray  is  perhaps  the  most 
delicious  creation  Anne  Warner  has  thus  far  produced.  — 
Washington  Herald- 

The  best,  as  it  is  the  most  sustained  work  we  have  had 
from  this  author  as  yet.  —  Detroit  Free  Press. 

The  humor  peculiar  to  her  pen  is  here  in  wonted 
strength,  but  in  a  new  guise ;  and  set  against  it,  or  inter- 
woven with  it,  is  a  story  of  love  and  the  strange  sacrifice 
of  which  a  few  loving  hearts  are  capable.  —  New  York 
American. 


LITTLE,  BROWN,  &    CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
34  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON 


Anne  Warner  s  Latest  Character  Creation 


IN  A 
MYSTERIOUS  WAY 


By  ANNE  WARNER 
Illustrated  by  J.  V.  McFall.     Cloth.     $1.50 


A  story  of  love  and  sacrifice  that  teems  with  the 
author's  original  humor.  —  Baltimore  American. 

The  humor  peculiar  to  her  pen  is  here  in  wonted 
strength,  but  in  a  new  guise ;  and  set  against  it,  or  inter- 
woven with  it,  is  a  story  of  love  and  the  strange  sacrifice 
of  which  a  few  loving  hearts  are  capable.  —  New  York 
American. 

By  the  same  author 

YOUR  CHILD  AND  MINE 

Illustrated.         12mo.        Cloth.        $1.50 


The  child  heart,  strange  and  sweet  and  tender,  lies  open 
to  this  sympathetic  writer,  and  other  human  hearts  —  and 
eyes  —  should  be  opened  by  her  narratives. — Chicago 
Record-Herald. 

The  literary  charm  of  the  stories  is  not  the  least  of  their 
attractions.  The  interest  is  all  the  greater  for  the  style 
in  which  the  story  is  told,  and  the  author's  sympathy  with 
her  young  friends  lends  a  vital  warmth  to  her  narrative. 
—  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 


LITTLE,  BROWN,  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
34  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON 


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